Converting a grammar to Chomsky normal form.

To convert a grammar to Chomsky normal form, a sequence of simple transformations is applied in a certain order; this is described in most textbooks on automata theory. The presentation here follows Hopcroft, Ullman (1979), but is adapted to use the transformation names from Lange, Leiß (2009). Each of the following transformations establishes one of the properties required for Chomsky normal form.

START: Eliminate the start symbol from right-hand sides.

Introduce a new start symbol "S", and a new rule where "S" is the previous start symbol. This does not change the grammar's produced language, and "S" will not occur on any rule's right-hand side.

TERM: Eliminate rules with nonsolitary terminals.

To eliminate each rule with a terminal symbol "a" being not the only symbol on the right-hand side, introduce, for every such terminal, a new nonterminal symbol "N", and a new rule Change every rule to If several terminal symbols occur on the right-hand side, simultaneously replace each of them by its associated nonterminal symbol. This does not change the grammar's produced language.

BIN: Eliminate right-hand sides with more than 2 nonterminals.

Replace each rule with more than 2 nonterminals "X"...,"X" by rules where "A" are new nonterminal symbols. Again, this does not change the grammar's produced language.

DEL: Eliminate ε-rules.

An ε-rule is a rule of the form where "A" is not "S", the grammar's start symbol.  To eliminate all rules of this form, first determine the set of all nonterminals that derive ε. Hopcroft and Ullman (1979) call such nonterminals "nullable", and compute them as follows:  Obtain an intermediate grammar by replacing each rule by all versions with some nullable "X" omitted. By deleting in this grammar each ε-rule, unless its left-hand side is the start symbol, the transformed grammar is obtained.  For example, in the following grammar, with start symbol "S", the nonterminal "A", and hence also "B", is nullable, while neither "C" nor "S" is. Hence the following intermediate grammar is obtained: In this grammar, all ε-rules have been "inlined at the call site". In the next step, they can hence be deleted, yielding the grammar: This grammar produces the same language as the original example grammar, viz. {"ab","aba","abaa","abab","abac","abb","abc","b","bab","bac","bb","bc","c"}, but has no ε-rules.

UNIT: Eliminate unit rules.

A unit rule is a rule of the form where "A", "B" are nonterminal symbols. To remove it, for each rule where "X"... "X" is a string of nonterminals and terminals, add rule unless this is a unit rule which has already been (or is being) removed.

Order of transformations.

When choosing the order in which the above transformations are to be applied, it has to be considered that some transformations may destroy the result achieved by other ones. For example, START will re-introduce a unit rule if it is applied after UNIT. The table shows which orderings are admitted.  Moreover, the worst-case bloat in grammar size depends on the transformation order. Using |"G"| to denote the size of the original grammar "G", the size blow-up in the worst case may range from |"G"| to 2, depending on the transformation algorithm used. The blow-up in grammar size depends on the order between DEL and BIN. It may be exponential when DEL is done first, but is linear otherwise. UNIT can incur a quadratic blow-up in the size of the grammar. The orderings START,TERM,BIN,DEL,UNIT and START,BIN,DEL,UNIT,TERM lead to the least (i.e. quadratic) blow-up.

Example.

The following grammar, with start symbol "Expr", describes a simplified version of the set of all syntactical valid arithmetic expressions in programming languages like C or Algol60. Both "number" and "variable" are considered terminal symbols here for simplicity, since in a compiler front-end their internal structure is usually not considered by the parser. The terminal symbol "^" denoted exponentiation in Algol60.  In step "START" of the above conversion algorithm, just a rule "S"→"Expr" is added to the grammar. After step "TERM", the grammar looks like this:  After step "BIN", the following grammar is obtained:  Since there are no ε-rules, step "DEL" does not change the grammar. After step "UNIT", the following grammar is obtained, which is in Chomsky normal form:  The "N" introduced in step "TERM" are "PowOp", "Open", and "Close". The "A" introduced in step "BIN" are "AddOp_Term", "MulOp_Factor", "PowOp_Primary", and "Expr_Close".

Alternative definition.

Chomsky reduced form.

Another way to define the Chomsky normal form is:  A formal grammar is in Chomsky reduced form if all of its production rules are of the form: where formula_3, formula_4 and formula_5 are nonterminal symbols, and formula_6 is a terminal symbol. When using this definition, formula_4 or formula_5 may be the start symbol. Only those context-free grammars which do not generate the empty string can be transformed into Chomsky reduced form.

Floyd normal form.

In a letter where he proposed a term Backus–Naur form (BNF), Donald E. Knuth implied a BNF "syntax in which all definitions have such a form may be said to be in 'Floyd Normal Form'", where formula_12, formula_13 and formula_14 are nonterminal symbols, and formula_6 is a terminal symbol, because Robert W. Floyd found any BNF syntax can be converted to the above one in 1961. But he withdrew this term, "since doubtless many people have independently used this simple fact in their own work, and the point is only incidental to the main considerations of Floyd's note." While Floyd's note cites Chomsky's original 1959 article, Knuth's letter does not.

Application.

Besides its theoretical significance, CNF conversion is used in some algorithms as a preprocessing step, e.g., the CYK algorithm, a bottom-up parsing for context-free grammars, and its variant probabilistic CKY.

In formal language theory, a context-free grammar "G" is said to be in Chomsky normal form (first described by Noam Chomsky) if all of its production rules are of the form: where "A", "B", and "C" are nonterminal symbols, "a" is a terminal symbol (a symbol that represents a constant value), "S" is the start symbol, and ε denotes the empty string. Also, neither "B" nor "C" may be the start symbol, and the third production rule can only appear if ε is in "L"("G"), the language produced by the context-free grammar "G".

在计算机科学中,一个形式文法是 Chomsky 范式的,当且仅当所有产生规则都有如下形式:


Organization.

The Goethe-Institut is mainly financed by the national government of Germany, and has around 1,000 employees and an overall budget of approximately 366 million euros at its disposal, more than half of which is generated from language course tuition and examination fees. The Goethe-Institut offers scholarships, including tuition waiver, to students from foreign countries, who want to become teachers of German. One of the selection criteria for these scholarships is social or financial need.

Online and Blended Learning Courses.

The Goethe-Institut offers e-learning courses as well. In fact, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that struck the world in 2020, when most governments imposed stay-at-home and/or work-from-home lockdown orders on their citizens, Goethe-Institut Singapur introduced a series of Blended Learning courses, in order to keep German language-learning going. According to Goethe Institut's Singapore website, Blended Learning is described as follows: "Blended Learning offers you the best of both worlds: the flexibility of an online course and the direct exchange with the teacher and the group in the classroom. At the computer you will practice your reading, writing and listening skills and closely interact with other students in forums. During your lessons in the virtual classroom, you will apply what you have learned and practice your conversation and pronunciation skills. This course combines 50% self-study with 50% interaction in class."

Exams.

The institute has developed a series of exams for learners of German as a foreign language ("Deutsch als Fremdsprache", DaF) at all levels: A1 up to C2. These can be taken both in Germany and abroad and have been adapted to fit into the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFL), the standard for European language testing. There is also one exam, the "Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom", which is at a higher level than the highest CEFL level. Below is a table of the basic Goethe-Institut exams as they fit into the scheme: In 2000, the Goethe-Institut helped to found the Society for Academic Test Development ("Gesellschaft für Akademische Testentwicklung e.V."). The resulting TestDaF exams are run by the TestDaF-Institut in Hagen. The tests are supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and are aimed at people who would like to study at German universities, academics and scientists. The TestDaF can be taken in Germany as well as in 65 other countries.  In addition there is the Green Diploma to acquire and prove German as a foreign language teaching qualifications.

Awards given.

The two US-related annually granted awards for literature translations from German into English are: the renowned Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize, and the "Gutekunst Prize of the Friends of Goethe New York" which is open to college students and to all translators under the age of 35 who, at the time the prize is awarded, have not yet published.

Goethe Medal.

Once a year, the Goethe-Institut awards the Goethe Medal, an official decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It honours foreign personalities who have performed outstanding service for the German language and international cultural relations. The Goethe Medal was established by the executive committee of the Goethe-Institut in 1954 and acknowledged as an official decoration by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1975.

The Society of Authors and the Goethe-Institut, London administer the biennial Goethe-Institut Award for New Translation.

Recognition.

In 2005, along with the Alliance française, the Società Dante Alighieri, the British Council, the Instituto Cervantes, and the Instituto Camões, the Goethe-Institut was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for achievements in communications and the humanities.  In 2007, it received a special Konrad Duden Prize for its work in the field of German language.

The Goethe-Institut (, GI, "") is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. Around 246,000 people take part in these German courses per year.

歌德学院()是德国在全球范围内从事文化活动的机构,以德国最受景仰的人文思想家歌德的名字命名,任务是在全世界推广德语及德国文化。目前歌德学院在德国有13所、在德国以外有128所分院。


History.

EGA was introduced in October 1984 by IBM, shortly after (but not exclusively for) its new PC/AT.  The EGA standard was made obsolete by the introduction in 1987 of MCGA and VGA with the PS/2 computer line.  Shortly before the introduction of VGA, Genoa Systems introduced a half-size graphics card built around a proprietary chip set, which they called "Super EGA" (later cards supporting an extended version of the VGA were similarly named Super VGA). Also around that time, Byte Magazine reviewed various proprietary enhanced EGA adapters described with the term "EEGA".

Design.

EGA produces a display of sixteen simultaneous colors from a palette of sixty-four, at a resolution of up to 640×350 pixels. The EGA card includes a 16 KB ROM to extend the system BIOS for additional graphics functions, and includes a custom CRT controller (CRTC) that has limited backward compatibility with the Motorola MC6845 chip used to generate video timing signals in earlier IBM PC graphics controllers. The EGA CRTC can support all of the modes of the IBM MDA and CGA adapters, partially through specific mode options intended for this purpose, but even in its maximum-compatibility mode configuration it is not register-compatible with an MC6845, so programs that directly program the 6845 to set up video modes will fail on an EGA. When an MDA or CGA mode is set up on the EGA by calling the BIOS, then the raster timing, video memory layout, data format, and some other low-level hardware details such as cursor control are identical to those aspects of the operation of an MDA or CGA, providing a high degree of direct software and hardware (e.g. CRT monitor) compatibility.  In the 640×350 high resolution mode, each of the sixteen colors can be selected from a palette comprising all possible combinations of two bits per pixel each for red, green and blue, allowing four levels of intensity for each primary color and sixty-four possible colors overall. EGA also includes full sixteen-color versions of the CGA 640×200 and 320×200 graphics modes. Depending on the monitor, only the sixteen CGA/RGBI colors are available in these modes; see color palette below. EGA four-bit (sixteen colors) graphic modes are also notable for a sophisticated use of bit planes and mask registers together with CPU bitwise operations, which constitutes an early graphics accelerator inherited by VGA and numerous compatible hardware design models.  EGA is dual-sync; it scans at 21.8 kHz when 350-line modes are used and 15.7 kHz when 200-line modes are used. The original CGA modes are also present, though EGA is not 100% hardware compatible with CGA, as was mentioned. EGA can drive an MDA monitor by a special setting of switches on the board (or by direct hardware programming—the switches only affect the operation of the BIOS); only 640×350 high-resolution monochrome graphics and the standard MDA text mode are available in this mode. In summary, the EGA supports all BIOS-standard video modes of all previous IBM PC video adapters except the enhanced CGA of the IBM PCjr. The standard MDA and CGA modes are supported 100% at the BIOS level, with additional support in some details at the hardware register level. The three enhanced graphics modes of the PCjr—160x200 16-color, 320x200 16-color, and 640x200 4-color—are not supported by the EGA, and IBM lists their BIOS video mode numbers (08, 09, and 0A hexadecimal) as reserved. However, the EGA can generate displays equivalent to these modes using different modes (with different video memory formats, requiring different programming). The EGA 320x200 16-color mode is not the same as nor compatible with the PCjr mode of the same format: the PCjr mode uses 4-bit pixels that are packed 2 pixels to a byte (one in the low nibble, and one in the high nibble) in a 32 KB video buffer that is split into 4 banks of interleaved lines (similar to the two interleaved banks in CGA graphics modes), whereas the EGA mode uses the linear bit-plane format that is native to the EGA.  EGA cards use the PC ISA bus and were available starting in both eight- and sixteen-bit versions. The original IBM EGA card had 64 KB of onboard RAM and required a daughter-board to add an additional 64 KB (cards with 64 KB are limited to four colors when 640×350 mode is used). All third-party cards came with 128 KB already installed and some even 256 KB, allowing multiple graphics pages, multiple text-mode character sets, and large scrolling displays. A few third-party EGA clones (notably the ATI Technologies and Paradise boards) feature a range of extended graphics modes (e.g., 640×400, 640×480 and 720×540), as well as automatic monitor type detection, and sometimes also a special 400-line interlace mode for use on CGA monitors.

Output capabilities.

EGA supports:  Text modes:  Extended graphics modes of third party boards:

Color palette.

The EGA palette allows all 16 CGA colors to be used simultaneously, and it allows substitution of each of these colors with any one from a total of 64 colors (two bits each for red, green and blue). This also allows the CGA's alternate brown color to be used without any additional display hardware. The later VGA standard built on this by allowing each of the 64 colors to be further customized.  However, standard EGA monitors do not support use of the extended color palette in 200-line modes. The monitor cannot distinguish between being connected to a CGA card or being connected to an EGA card in a 200-line mode. Compared to CGA, EGA redefines some pins of the connector to carry the extended color information. If the monitor were connected to a CGA card, these pins would not carry valid color information, and the screen might be garbled if the monitor were to interpret them as such. For this reason, standard EGA monitors will use the CGA pin assignment in 200-line modes so the monitor can also be used with a CGA card. Some EGA monitors are "switchable", meaning they can be set up to use the full palette even in 200-line modes, often through a mechanical switch. Only a few commercial games were released with support for the extended color palette in 320×200 or 640×200 (including the DOS version of Super Off Road).  When selecting a color from the EGA palette, two bits are used for the red, green and blue channels. This allows each channel a value of 0, 1, 2 or 3. To select the color magenta, the red and blue values would be medium intensity (2, or 10 in binary) and the green value would be off (0). When calculating the intended value in the 64-color EGA palette, the binary number of the intended entry is of the form "rgbRGB" where a lowercase letter is the least significant bit of the channel intensity and an uppercase letter is the most significant bit. For magenta, the most significant bit in the red and blue values is a 1, so the uppercase R and B placeholders would become 1. All other digits are zeros, giving the binary number 000101 for the color magenta. This is 5 in decimal, so setting a palette entry to 5 would result in it being set to magenta. All the color values for the default colors are listed in the table on the right.

Specifications.

The EGA uses a female nine-pin D-subminiature (DE-9) connector which looks identical to the CGA connector. The hardware signal interface, including the pin configuration, is largely compatible with CGA. The differences are in the re-purposing of three pins for the EGA's secondary RGB signals: the CGA "Intensity" pin (pin six) has been changed to "Secondary Green (Intensity)"; the second ground of CGA (pin two) has been changed to "Secondary Red (Intensity)", and pin seven (Reserved on the CGA) is now used for "Secondary Blue (Intensity)". If the EGA is operated in modes having the same scan rates as CGA, a connected CGA monitor should operate correctly, though if the monitor connects pin two to ground, the shorting of the EGA's secondary red output to ground could conceivably damage the EGA adapter. Similarly, if the CGA monitor is wired with pin two as its sole ground (which is poor design), it will not work with the EGA, though it will work with a CGA. Finally, because of the use of the CGA's intensity pin as secondary green, on a CGA monitor connected to an EGA, all CGA colors will display correctly, but all other EGA colors will incorrectly display as the standard CGA color which has the same values for the g, R, G, and B bits (ignoring the r and b bits.) Conversely, an EGA monitor should work with a CGA adapter, but the secondary red signal will be grounded (always zero) and the secondary blue will be floating (unconnected), causing all high-intensity CGA colors except brown to display incorrectly, and all colors to potentially have a variable blue tint due to the indeterminate state of the unconnected secondary blue.  Almost all EGA cards have DIP switches on the back of the card to select the monitor type. If CGA is selected, the card will operate in 200-line mode and use 8x8 characters in text mode. 350-line modes cannot be accessed, nor any of the extended color palette. If EGA is selected, the card will operate in 350-line mode and use 8×14 text. When 200-line modes are set, it will sync down to 15 kHz. If MDA is selected, the card also uses 350 lines and 8×14 text, but the only graphics mode that can be accessed is 640×350×2.  The IBM 5154 EGA monitor has a special IBM 5153 CGA compatibility mode when operating with CGA sync signals, and it will automatically change to the CGA pinout to avoid all of the mentioned problems when operating in this mode.

Memory mapping.

EGA graphics modes are planar, as opposed to the interlaced CGA and Hercules modes. The video memory is divided into four pages (except 640×350×2, which has two pages), one for each component of the RGBI color space. Each bit represents one pixel. If a bit in the red page is enabled, but none of the equivalent bits in the other pages are, a red pixel will appear in that location on-screen. If all the other bits for that particular pixel were also enabled, it would become white, and so forth. The planes are 8 KB in size (200-line modes and 640×350 with two colors and 32 KB video RAM), 16 KB (640×350 with 64 KB video RAM), or 32 KB (640×350 with 128 KB video RAM) and reside at segment A000 in the CPU's address space. They are bank-switched and only one plane can be read on the CPU bus at once, although the programmer may set the control registers on the EGA card to select which planes are written to. Thus, it is possible to write to all of them at once even though just one plane can be read from at any given moment. However, there is an exception: in read mode 1, all four planes are read and compared with programmed "Color Compare" data, and a byte indicating the result of comparing all four planes is what is read on the I/O bus.  For color text and CGA graphics modes, the video memory is mapped to 16 KB of memory addresses beginning at address B8000h. In monochrome (MDA-compatible) text mode, video memory occupies 16 KB beginning at B0000h. These address mappings are for backwards compatibility. For modes new to the EGA, the video memory begins at address A0000h and occupies 64 KB. The card can also be set to map 128 KB at that base address, but no standard BIOS video modes use that option. The different base addresses for color vs. monochrome modes makes it possible for an EGA to be operated simultaneously with a monochrome graphics card in the same computer, or for an EGA in MDA text mode to operated simultaneously with a CGA in the same computer.

Connector.

Female DE-9 connector, on EGA (computer). Pin numbers (looking at socket): top row is pins 1–5, bottom row is pins 6 to 9, both numbered from right to left in this illustration.

Adoption.

A PC clone with EGA had better graphics than contemporary rivals Commodore 64 or Apple II, which before 1987 were more popular for games in the USA, although at a substantially higher price than the C64. In Europe other home computers such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and the Amstrad CPC were also very popular. However CGA had inferior graphics to the Atari ST and Amiga computer families, which became very popular in Europe in particular from 1987 onward delaying general acceptance of the PC as home and games machines until the early 90s. The Atari could display 16 colours from a palette of 512 in 320×200 or 256 (NTSC/PAL), while the first generation Amigas generally displayed 32 colours out of a pallette of 4096 in 320×200 or 256, but could display all 4096 simultaneously. Commercial software began supporting EGA by 1986 and Sierra's "King's Quest III" was one of the earliest PC games to use it. Most software made up to 1991 can run in EGA, although the vast majority of commercial games used 320×200 with 16 colors for reasons of compatibility with CGA and Tandy and to support users who did not own a proper EGA monitor. The 350-line modes were mostly used by freeware/shareware games and application software, although "SimCity" is a notable example of a commercial game that runs in 640×350×16 mode.

The Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) is an IBM PC computer display standard from 1984 that superseded and exceeded the capabilities of the CGA standard introduced with the original IBM PC, and was itself superseded by the VGA standard in 1987.

增强图形适配器(Enhanced Graphics Adapter或EGA)是IBM PC计算机显示标准定义,在显示性能方面(颜色和分辨率)介于CGA和VGA之间。它是IBM在1984年为其新型PC-AT计算机引入的技术。EGA可以在高达640x350的分辩率下达到16色。EGA包含一个16KB的ROM(只读存储器)来扩展系统BIOS以便实现附加的显示功能,并包含一个Motorola MC6845视频地址生成器。


Early life.

Childhood and election.

Sigismund was born on 20 June 1566 to Catherine Jagiellon and the Grand Duke John of Finland at Gripsholm. His parents, at the time, were being held prisoner by King Eric XIV, but despite the Protestant domination of Sweden young Sigismund was raised as a Roman Catholic. His mother Catherine was the daughter of Polish king Sigismund I the Old and Queen Bona Sforza of Italy. In 1567 Sigismund and his parents were released from prison. A year later, in 1568, Erik XIV was deposed and Sigismund's father ascended to the throne of Sweden as King John III. From 1568 onward Sigismund was the Crown Prince of

Opposition to the throne.

The outcome of the election was strongly contested by factions of the Polish nobility that supported the candidacy of Archduke Maximilian III of Austria, who briefly invaded the country. Upon hearing of his election King Sigismund slipped through the clutches of the Protestants in Sweden and landed in Poland on 7 October, immediately agreeing to grant several royal privileges to the Sejm in the hope of winning over some of his opponents and settling the disputed election. He was proclaimed by the Lesser Prussian Treasurer Jan Dulski as king on behalf of Crown Marshal Andrzej Opaliński, and after arriving in the Royal Capital City of Kraków he was crowned on 27 December at Wawel Cathedral.  Ultimately, Hetman Jan Zamoyski defeated Maximilian at the Battle of Byczyna and took him prisoner. However, at the request of Pope Sixtus V, King Sigismund III released Maximilian, who surrendered his claim to Poland in 1589. King

Conflict with Jan Zamoyski.

Parliamentary resistance.

The contest between the King and Chancellor-Hetman Jan Zamoyski, began during Sigismund's first Sejm (Parliament) sitting, the so-called Pacification Sejm, which met at Warsaw in March 1589. Zamoyski presented the project of a political union between Poland, Muscovy, and Bohemia, coupled with a suggestion that in case the present King should die without issue (a somewhat premature and gratuitous assumption in the circumstances), none but a prince from a Western Slavonic dynasty should henceforth be eligible to the Polish throne. The extravagance of a project that could even imagine any sort of union between Catholic Poland, Orthodox Muscovy, and semi-Protestant Bohemia struck even the majority of the Sejm with amazement. It was only explicable as a circuitous attempt to traverse the Habsburg influence. The Parliament promptly rejected it, accepting instead the royal proposition of a marriage between Sigismund and

Peace settlement and reconciliation.

On 1 June 1592, Zamoyski formed a confederation at Jędrzejów (Latin: Andreiow), which was better attended than the wedding feast in honour of Sigismund's young Austrian bride the Archduchess Anne, who made her state entry into Kraków amidst great rejoicings at the end of May. All of the nobility, nearly all the senators of Greater and Lesser Poland, and the majority of Lithuanians acceded to the Chancellor.  At the sitting of the "Inquisition Sejm" in Warsaw (7 August), which was summoned by the King to inquire into all grievances and thoroughly sift the so-called "Austrian cabals", Zamoyski was once more formidable. Sigismund, supported by the Primate of Poland Stanisław Karnkowski, had still enough authority to halt the

War against Sigismund in Sweden.

Historical background.

After Sigismund had been crowned King of Sweden on 19 February 1594, he decided that no Parliaments ("riksdagar") could be summoned without the King's consent. Despite this, Charles summoned a Parliament at Söderköping in autumn 1595, at which he managed to get his will through. The Duke was appointed Regent with "the advice of the Council", meaning that he was to govern Sweden together with the Privy Council during the King's absence from the realm. Soon afterwards, the nobility of Finland, led by Klaus Fleming, the governor appointed by Sigismund, rejected these decisions. They sympathised with the King and considered Charles a rebel. As a counterattack, Charles

Eruption of a civil war.

Thus, in 1597, civil war erupted, and Duke Charles was able to assume control over a large share of the powerful castles in the country, and in this manner achieved control over almost all the realm. The problem was Finland, where Klaus Fleming's widow guarded Åbo castle. But after psychological warfare, Charles and his followers managed to take the castle in Turku (). It is said that when the Duke entered the castle chapel he saw Klaus Fleming's body lying in a coffin. He is said to have said: "Hadst thou now been alive, thy head would not have been in great safety." Then Fleming's widow Ebba Stenbock is said to have approached the Duke and responded: "If my late husband had been alive, Your Grace would never have entered herein."  When Sigismund found out

Military actions and campaign.

At the end of May 1598 Sigismund landed on Swedish soil at Avaskär. The King opened peacefully by sending the diplomat Samuel Łaski to Kalmar for negotiations. His task was to convince the city's commanders to open the gates. However, the negotiations led nowhere. Instead, the King took his soldiers and marched on Kalmar. The army halted just outside the city. The plan was to frighten the commanders into opening the gates. To make his message even more terrifying, Sigismund threatened the city with severe punishments and to withdraw the nobility of all children in the city. The propaganda worked well and Sigismund was able to make his long-desired entry on 1 August. After the fall of Kalmar, Duke Charles found himself with major trouble on his hands. The Polish Crown army attracted Swedish followers, and Stockholm, lacking military defence, was easily taken with the help of the nobility and officers of Götaland. After this event, the cavalry of Uppland

Aftermath and peace.

Sigismund was officially deposed from the throne of Sweden by a Riksdag held in Stockholm on 24 July 1599. He was given six months to say whether he wanted to send his son, Prince Władysław Vasa, to Sweden as his successor, under the condition that the boy would be brought up in the Evangelical faith. Otherwise the Estates would look for a new king. In

Polish affairs.

Brief clash with England.

The Muslim Ottoman Empire and Christian England were allies of convenience against Spain. While Elizabeth's armies were fighting Catholic forces in the Low Countries to prevent the Spanish from gaining secure harbours on the Channel coast to stage an invasion, England also served Turkish interests by diverting Spain from focusing on domination of the Mediterranean. In 1580, the Turks threatened to invade Poland from lands located north of the Black Sea. The good will of Poland was crucial to England because trade with countries bordering the Baltic was the source of grain and the all important forest products needed to maintain the navy. Furthermore, English merchants enjoyed preferential trading privileges within the borders of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Elizabeth's intercession with the Caliphate was credited with cancelling the invasion, and she received letters of praise from then reigning Polish king, Stephen Báthory.  After Sigismund III was elected in 1587, Elizabeth's intelligence service gave notice that an ambassador was in transit and that the deputation was one of

Zebrzydowski Rebellion.

The Zebrzydowski Rebellion, or Sandomierz Rebellion, was a semi-legal revolt against King Sigismund, formed in August 1606 by Hetman Mikołaj Zebrzydowski, Jan Szczęsny Herburt, Stanisław Stadnicki, Aleksander Józef Lisowski and Prince Janusz Radziwiłł in Stężyca and Lublin. It was primarily caused by the growing dissatisfaction with the King among the Polish szlachta and wealthy magnates. In particular, the rebels disapproved of the King's efforts to limit the power of the nobles, his attempts to weaken the Sejm, and to introduce a hereditary monarchy in place of the elective one. The rebellion (1606–08) ended in the defeat of the rebels. Despite the failure to overthrow the King, the rebellion firmly established the dominance of the nobility over the monarch in the Polish political system.  The Polish nobles gathered at the rebellion formed a council and outlined their demands in 67 articles. They demanded the dethronement of Sigismund III for breaching

Sigismund's invasion of Russia (1605–1618).

Combating heresy and giving Poland a strong and stable government were the primary goals of Sigismund. In the time of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Poles were a force to be reckoned with, especially their elite, heavy cavalry, most notably the Winged Hussars. While the Russians were fighting among themselves in a civil war (Time of Troubles), Sigismund saw an opportunity to invade and take power, as did Sweden though they were never firmly on one side or the other.  The "Time of Troubles" was a dark period in Russia's history; it began when Tsar Feodor I died in 1598, which caused internal instability and a succession crisis upon the extinction of the Rurik dynasty. Further setbacks that

Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

Sigismund III would have intervened in the Thirty Years' War, on the Catholic side, but for the determined opposition of the Parliament (Sejm), expressing itself in fresh insurrections and the refusal of supplies. His intervention would have taken the form of an invasion and, possibly, an occupation of Transylvania, which, under the energetic and ambitious Princes of the Protestant Houses of Bethlen and Rákóczi, was the active ally of the Sultan and equally dangerous to Habsburg Monarchy and Poland. This would result in

Polish–Ottoman War (1620–21).

The Principality of Moldavia was a Polish fief since the Middle Ages and Sigismund aimed at securing that despite the growing threat from the south. With the Ottoman influence and power on the rise, the Sultan aimed at expanding the Ottoman Empire westward. Furthermore, the Ottomans favoured the fertile steppes of Moldavia, Ruthenia and "Polish Ukraine". The Ottoman–Habsburg wars, which lasted almost two centuries, were also a sign of the Sultan's desperation to rule mainland Europe. Sigismund was anxious to help Habsburgs and was promised territorial gains for Poland in return for his assistance. He sent in an army consisting of mercenaries from the wars in Russia to the Principality of Moldavia, which sparked the Polish–Ottoman War.  In 1620 the Polish forces were

Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629).

Following a series of conflicts between Poland and Sweden in 1600–11, 1617–18 and 1621–1625, all of which ended in a stalemate, Gustavus Adolphus invaded in 1626 to gain control over Livonia and Ducal Prussia. Sigismund, already in advanced age, continued his long-term ambition of reclaiming Sweden, which gave Gustavus Adolphus a reasonable casus belli and justification for war. Though the Polish army achieved major victories in the previous battles against Sweden, particularly at Kircholm in 1605, the very end proved to be catastrophic.  The first skirmish took place in January 1626 near Wallhof, in

Synopsis of Sigismund's politics.

Many historians agree that Sigismund considered Poland as a tool to eventually regain the throne of Sweden. To this end he tried to strengthen his royal power and allied himself with Habsburgs and Counter-Reformation forces. His policies were opposed by many within the circles of the wealthy Polish nobility (the szlachta), most notably the chancellor Jan Zamoyski. This led to a semi-legal rebellion against the king (rokosz), known as Zebrzydowski Rebellion (1606–08), which was a response to Sigismund's attempt to introduce majority voting in place of unanimity in the Sejm. Eventually Sigismund's forces were victorious, but the rebels went unpunished. Partially in order to pacify the restless szlachta, Sigismund supported war with Muscovy (the Dimitriads, 1605–18). Although Commonwealth forces were almost constantly shuffled between wars in the East (with Muscovy), north (with Sweden) and South (with Ottomans in

Gentry, nobility and privileges.

The Polish nobility of the Commonwealth had become excessively dominant, and its primary aim was to remain in power. The lower and middle classes were often exploited and heavily taxed by wealthy or influential families of that era. This created a sense of fear among citizens of towns and villages that were privately owned by nobles. Sigismund, as the Head of State, always sought to restrict the privileges of the upper classes and decrease the nobility's influence over the parliament in order to personally gain control. This caused disdain for the monarch and many rebellions occurred during his reign. These revolts, however, were all crushed by Sigismund and the nobles eventually surrendered, having achieved little. Furthermore, one of Sigismund's desires was to be admired and idolized by his subjects; the unsuccessful rebellions were significant in strengthening his influence over the people and the country's politics. The Sejm, however, was still directly responsible for the majority of the Commonwealth's affairs, most notably declaring wars and suing for

Piotr Skarga and Sigismund, "King of the Jesuits".

The election of Sigismund III proved to be the greatest possible blow to inflict upon Protestantism in Poland. Brought up by his mother, Catherine Jagiellon, in the strictest Roman Catholic doctrines, he made Rome's interests the guiding motive of all his actions. This zeal for Rome outweighed all considerations of prudence or policy; through it he lost two hereditary thrones and brought innumerable calamities on the country that had elected him "In order to make sure of heaven he has renounced Earth" as said by Emperor Ferdinand II of the Holy Roman Empire. The Protestants called him the "King of the Jesuits", and Sigismund gloried in the appellation. This feeble imitation of Philip II of Spain possessed all the bigotry and zeal of his model without his abilities or strength of character. Sigismund was heavily influenced by the Jesuits; according to contemporary opinions he bestowed honours only on

Assassination attempt in Warsaw.

An unsuccessful attempt on the life of the king was made on 15 November 1620. It occurred on Sunday at 9 in the morning when the monarch was to attend mass in St. John's Archcathedral in Warsaw.  Sigismund was to arrive by crossing a corridor or passage that linked the Royal Castle with the temple. When the royal procession reached the end, hidden in a nearby portal was petty nobleman Michał Piekarski armed with a war hammer. The assassin previously killed a Hungarian mercenary who was standing guard and the royal cook. When the monarch reached the final steps, Piekarski leaped out and threw himself on the king, stabbing him twice, firstly in the back and then in the cheek, and striking him in the arm. However, he was not able to deliver a fatal blow due to the intervention of royal guardsmen as well as Court Marshal Łukasz Opaliński who shielded the king. Concurrently, Prince Władysław wounded the assassin on the head with a sabre. Other

Relationship with the Mennonites.

Sigismund confirmed the contracts of lease made with the Mennonites and, on 20 October 1623, accorded special privileges to the Mennonite lace-makers originating from Scotland. He refused, however, to grant them any new rights or liberties. A complaint was lodged by the city council of Elbing (Elbląg) which confirmed that the Mennonites broke up marriages without having previously informed the authorities, married one another, and divided property at their pleasure. It was forbidden for the Mennonites to marry without the foreknowledge of the authorities and a penalty fine of 100 guilders was to be paid for misconduct. Nevertheless,

Decline and death.

Throughout these wars King Sigismund tried to stabilize and streamline the Commonwealth government. The electoral monarchy in Poland had created a nobility with extensive powers and a great deal of division. Sigismund worked to gain more power for the king as well as to allow government business to pass with a majority of votes of the parliament rather than unanimity, which was extremely hard to achieve and meant that things often did not get done. All these actions led to a rebellion, but the King was ultimately victorious and, despite the criticism from historian Paweł Jasienica, his reign marked a period of Polish greatness.  Sigismund made the Commonwealth the dominant power of Central and Eastern Europe and ensured that Poland remained a solidly Catholic country in the face of Protestant incursions. He was considered a bold and

Opinion of reign and legacy.

The reign of King Sigismund III of Poland is often spoken of as the beginning of the end of the Polish Golden Age. In terms of worldly success he certainly met with many defeats and setbacks. Yet, he was also one of the great Catholic leaders of Europe and his reign can also be seen as one of many opportunities for an even greater Poland. He was stubborn, but a man of principle who would follow the hard but upright path rather than compromise his values for a more sure

Personal life.

Apart from being a devout Catholic, a painter and having an interest in alchemy, Sigismund was also an avid sportsman. He participated in tournaments, enjoyed ice skating and played football. The king often placed entertainment and recreational activities above those concerning the matters of state. Bored by extensive politics and diplomacy, he was reluctant in participating in conferences with the magnates or representatives of the Sejm. For instance, during one meeting with the Chancellor and an Archbishop, Sigismund decided to draw an owl in the notebook which was provided for noting important advice. However, there is uncertainty as to whether this has ever occurred. The monarch also enjoyed instructing or admonishing architects

Genealogy.

Marriages and descendants.

Sigismund married twice. Firstly, on 31 May 1592, to Anna of Austria (1573–1598), daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria (1540–1590)

Sigismund III Vasa (,, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 ), also known as Sigismund III of Poland, was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632 as well as King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 until his deposition in 1599.

齐格蒙特三世·瓦萨(,1566年-6月20日-1632年-4月30日),在瑞典称西吉斯蒙德(),是波兰-立陶宛联邦国王(1587年-1632年)和瑞典国王(1592年-1599年)。在他45年的统治时期,波兰-立陶宛联邦是名副其实的东欧第二强国,仅次于奥斯曼帝国;波兰的霸权稳固地建立在东北欧地区,是基督世界中,人口仅次于西班牙帝国和法国的第三大国(人口将近一千一百万)。


Background.

Early 19th-century England was almost unique among major nations in having no class of landed smallholding peasantry. The Enclosure Acts of rural England contributed to the plight of rural farmworkers. Between 1770 and 1830 about of common land were enclosed. The common land had been used for centuries by the poor of the countryside to graze their animals and grow their own produce. This land was now divided up among the large local landowners, leaving the landless farmworkers solely dependent upon working for their richer neighbours for a cash wage. Whilst this may have offered a tolerable living during the boom years of the Napoleonic wars, when labour had been in short supply and corn prices high, the return of peace in 1815 resulted in plummeting grain prices and an oversupply of labour.  According to social historians John and Barbara Hammond, enclosure was fatal to three classes: the small farmer, the cottager and the squatter. Before enclosure the cottager was a labourer with land; after enclosure he was a labourer without land.  In contrast to the Hammond's 1911 analysis of the events, the historian G. E. Mingay noted in his 1997 book that when the Swing riots broke out in 1830, the heavily-enclosed Midlands remained almost entirely quiet, but the riots were concentrated in the southern and south-eastern counties, little affected by enclosure. Also according to J. D. Chambers and G. E. Mingay, the Hammonds exaggerated the costs of change when in reality enclosure meant more food for the growing population, more land under cultivation and on balance, more employment in the countryside. The modern historians of the Swing riots, Eric Hobsbawm and George Rudé, cited only three of a total of 1,475 incidents as being directly caused by enclosure. Since the late 20th century, those contentions have been challenged by a new class of recent historians. The Enclosure movement has been seen by some as causing the destruction of the traditional peasant way of life, with surplus peasant labour moving into the towns to become industrial workers.  In the 1780s, workers would be employed at annual hiring fairs (or mops), to serve for the whole year. During this period the worker would receive payment in kind and in cash from his employer, would often work at his side, and would commonly share meals at the employer's table. As time passed the gulf between farmer and employee widened. Workers were hired on stricter cash-only contracts, which ran for increasingly shorter periods. First, monthly terms became the norm; later, contracts were offered for as little as a week. Between 1750 and 1850 the farm labourer faced the loss of his land, the transformation of his contract and the sharp deterioration of his economic situation; by the time of the 1830 riots he had retained very little of his former status except the right to parish relief, under the Old Poor Law system.  Historically the monasteries had taken responsibility for the impotent poor, but after their dissolution in 1536–9, responsibility passed to the parishes. The Act of Settlement in 1662 had confined relief strictly to those who were natives of the parish. The poor law system charged a Parish Rate to landowners and tenants, which was used to provide relief payments to settled residents of the parish who were ill or out of work. These payments were minimal, and at times degrading conditions were required for their receipt. As more and more people became dependent on parish relief, ratepayers rebelled ever more loudly against the costs, and a lower and lower level of relief was offered. Three "one gallon" bread loaves a week were considered necessary for a man in Berkshire in 1795. However provision had fallen to just two similar-sized loaves being provided in 1817 Wiltshire. The way in which poor law funds were disbursed led to a further reduction in agricultural wages, since farmers would pay their workers as little as possible, knowing that the parish fund would top up wages to a basic subsistence level (see Speenhamland system).  To this mixture was added the burden of the church tithe. Originally this had been the church's right to a tenth of the parish harvest. However the earlier collection of goods in kind had been replaced by a cash levy that was payable to the local Church of England parson and went to pay his (often considerable) stipend. The cash levy was generally rigorously enforced, whether the resident was a Church member or not, and the sum demanded was often far higher than a poor person could afford. Calls for a large reduction in the tithe payment were prominent among the demands of the rioters.  The final straw was the introduction of horse-powered threshing machines, which could do the work of many men. They spread swiftly among the farming community, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmworkers. Following the terrible harvests of 1828 and 1829, farm labourers faced the approaching winter of 1830 with dread.

Rioting.

Starting in the southeastern county of Kent, the Swing Rioters smashed the threshing machines and threatened farmers who had them. The riots spread rapidly through the southern counties of Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex and Hampshire, before spreading north into the Home Counties, the Midlands and East Anglia. Originally the disturbances were thought to be mainly a southern and East Anglian phenomenon, but subsequent research has revealed just how widespread Swing riots really were, with almost every county south of the Scottish border involved.  In all, sixty percent of the disturbances were concentrated in the south (Berkshire 165 incidents, Hampshire 208, Kent 154, Sussex 145, Wiltshire 208); whereas East Anglia had fewer incidents (Cambridge 17, Norfolk 88, Suffolk 40), while the Southwest, the Midlands and the North were only marginally affected.  The tactics varied from county to county but typically, threatening letters, often signed by Captain Swing, would be sent to magistrates, parsons, wealthy farmers or Poor Law guardians in the area. The letters would call for a rise in wages, a cut in the tithe payments and for the destruction of threshing machines, otherwise people would take matters into their own hands. If the warnings were not heeded local farm workers would gather, often in groups of 200–400, and would threaten the local oligarchs with dire consequences if their demands were not met. Threshing machines would be broken, workhouses and tithe barns would be attacked and then the rioters would disperse or move on to the next village. The buildings containing the engines that powered the threshing machines were also a target of the rioters and many "gin gangs", also known as "horse engine houses" or "wheelhouses", were destroyed, particularly in south−east England.  Other actions included incendiary attacks on farms, barns and hayricks in the dead of night, as it was easier then to avoid detection. Although a lot of the actions of the rioters, such as arson, were conducted in secret at night, meetings with farmers and overseers about the grievances were conducted in daylight.  Despite the prevalence of the slogan "Bread or Blood", only one person is recorded as having been killed during the riots, and that was one of the rioters by the action of a soldier or farmer. The rioters' only intent was to damage property. Similar patterns of disturbances, and their rapid spread across the country, were often blamed on agitators or on "agents" sent from France, where the revolution of July 1830 had broken out a month before the Swing Riots began in Kent.  Despite all of the different tactics used by the agricultural workers during the unrest, their principal aims were simply to attain a minimum living wage and to end rural unemployment.

Aftermath.

Eventually the farmers agreed to raise wages, and the parsons and some landlords reduced the tithes and rents. But many farmers reneged on the agreements and the unrest increased. Many people advocated political reform as the only solution to the unrest. This included Earl Grey, who speaking in a debate in the House of Lords in November suggested the best way to reduce the violence was to introduce reform of the House of Commons. The Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington, replied the existing constitution was so perfect that he could not imagine any possible alternative that would be an improvement. When that was reported, a mob attacked Wellington's home in London. The unrest had been confined to Kent, but during the following two weeks of November it escalated massively, crossing East and West Sussex into Hampshire, with Swing letters appearing in other nearby counties.  On 15 November 1830 Wellington's government was defeated in a vote in the House of Commons. Two days later, Earl Grey was asked to form a Whig government. Grey assigned a cabinet committee to produce a plan for parliamentary reform. Lord Melbourne became Home Secretary in the new government.  During the disturbances of 1830–32, Melbourne "acted vigorously and sensitively, and it was for this that his reforming brethren thanked him heartily". Melbourne blamed local magistrates for being too lenient and the government appointed a Special Commission of three judges to try rioters in the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.  The landowning class in England felt severely threatened by the riots, and responded with harsh punitive measures. Nearly 2,000 protesters were brought to trial in 1830–1831; 252 were sentenced to death (though only 19 were actually hanged), 644 were imprisoned, and 481 were transported to penal colonies in Australia. Not all the rioters were necessarily farm workers, the list of those punished included rural artisans, shoemakers, carpenters, wheelwrights, blacksmiths and cobblers.  The authorities had received many requests to prosecute radical politician and writer William Cobbett for the speeches he had made in defence of the rural labourer; however it was for his articles in the "Political Register" that he was eventually charged with seditious libel. He wrote an article entitled "The Rural War" that was about the Swing Riots. He blamed those in society who lived off unearned income at the expense of hard-working agricultural labourers; his solution was parliamentary reform. At his trial in July 1831 at the Guildhall, he subpoenaed six members of the cabinet, including the prime minister. Cobbett defended himself by going on the attack. He tried to ask the government ministers awkward questions supporting his case, but they were disallowed by the Lord Chief Justice. However, he was able to discredit the prosecution's case, and at great embarrassment to the government he was acquitted.  The Swing riots were a major influence on the Whig Government. They added to the strong social, political and agricultural unrest throughout Britain in the 1830s, encouraging a wider demand for political reform, culminating in the introduction of the Reform Act 1832; and also to the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 ending "outdoor relief" in cash or kind, and setting up a chain of workhouses covering larger areas across the country, to which the poor had to go if they wanted help.

The Swing Riots were a widespread uprising in 1830 by agricultural workers in southern and eastern England, in protest at agricultural mechanisation and harsh working conditions. It began with the destruction of threshing machines in the Elham Valley area of East Kent in the summer of 1830, and by early December had spread through the whole of southern England and East Anglia.

斯温暴动(英语:Swing Riots)是1830年由英格兰南部及东部的农民所发动的大规模起义。事件开始于1830年夏天,那时东肯特的伊勒姆谷地区出现了民众砸毁打谷机的事件,到12月初已蔓延到整个英格兰南部及东盎格利亚地区。这些民众主要是抗议严酷的工作环境以及农业生产的机械化。


History.

Before unification in 1870, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies. Most were linked to the, a silver coin containing grams of pure silver. In moving from a silver standard currency to a gold standard curency, the designers of the Mark sought to (i) establish a simple relation to the Vereinsthaler and (ii) to approximate the value of the "Mark Courant", the currency used by the Hanseatic cities of Hamburg and Lübeck which equaled 1/3 of a Vereinsthaler. Thus, the ratio of three Marks per Vereinsthaler defined the gold content of the Mark. At this ratio, Vereinsthalers were legal tender up to 1908.  Southern Germany had used the as the standard unit of account, which was worth of a and, hence, became worth 1.71 () marks in the new currency. Bremen had used a gold based which was converted directly to the mark at a rate of 1 gold = 3.32 () marks. Hamburg had used its own mark prior to 1873. This was replaced by the gold mark at a rate of 1 Hamburg mark = 1.2 gold mark.  From 1 January 1876 onwards, the mark became the only legal tender. The name was created later to distinguish it from the (paper mark) which suffered a serious loss of value through hyperinflation following World War I (see inflation in the Weimar Republic). The gold mark was on a gold standard with 2790 marks equal to 1 kilogram of pure gold (1 mark = 358 mg). From 1900 to 1933, the United States adhered to a gold standard as well, with the value of the dollar being fixed at a price of approximately of gold (one troy ounce of gold was actually valued at ). The gold mark therefore had a value of approximately. The monetary hegemon of the time when the gold mark was in use, however, was the pound sterling, with £1 being valued at 20.43 gold marks.  World War I reparations owed by Germany were stated in gold marks in 1921, 1929 and 1931; this was the victorious Allies' response to their fear that vanquished Germany might try to pay off the obligation in paper marks. The actual amount of reparations that Germany was obliged to pay out was not the 132 billion marks cited in the London Schedule of 1921 but rather the 50 billion marks stipulated in the A and B Bonds. The actual total payout from 1920 to 1931 (when payments were suspended indefinitely) was 20 billion German gold marks, worth about or. Most of that money came from loans from New York bankers.  Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, payments of reparations were officially abandoned. West Germany after World War II did not resume payment of reparations as such, but did resume the payment of debt that Germany had acquired in the inter-war period to finance its reparation payments, paying off the principal on those debts by 1980. The interest on those debts was paid off on 3 October 2010, the 20th anniversary of German reunification.

Coins.

Coins of denominations between 1 Pfennig and 1 Mark were issued in standard designs for the whole Empire, whilst those above 1 Mark were issued by the individual states, using a standard design for the reverses (the "Reichsadler", the eagle insignia of the German Empire) with a design specific to the state on the obverse, generally a portrait of the monarch of the kingdom or duchy (and not that of the Emperor); while the free cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck each used the city's coat of arms. Occasionally Commemorative coins were minted, in which cases the obverse and (much more rarely) the reverse designs might depart from the usual pictorial standards. Many of the smaller states issued coins in very small numbers. Also, in general all states' coinage became very limited after the First World War began. Well preserved examples of such low mintage coins can be rare and valuable. The Principality of Lippe was the only state not to issue any gold coins in this period.

Silver coins.

Subsidiary silver coins were minted in.900 fineness to a standard of 5 grams silver per Mark. Production of 2 and 5 Mark coins ceased in 1915 while 1 Mark coins continued to be issued until 1916. A few 3 Mark coins were minted until 1918, and 1⁄2 Mark coins continued to be issued in silver until 1919.  These silver coins are token or subsidiary currency for the goldmark and are therefore legal tender only up to 20 marks. However, all silver 3-mark Vereinsthalers issued before 1871 enjoyed unlimited legal tender status even after the switch-over to the gold standard. This ended with the demonetization of the Vereinsthaler in 1908 and the introduction of the new subsidiary 3 Mark coins.  The 5 Mark coin, however, was significantly closer in value to older Thalers (and other such crown-sized coins).

Gold coins.

Gold coins were minted in.900 fineness to a standard of 2790 Mark = 1 kilogram of gold. Gold coin production ceased in 1915. 5 Mark gold coins were minted only in 1877 and 1878.

Banknotes.

Banknotes were issued by the Imperial Treasury (known as "Reichskassenschein") and the Reichsbank, as well as by the banks of some of the states. Imperial Treasury notes were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 Mark, whilst Reichsbank notes were produced in denominations of 20, 50, 100 and 1000 Mark. The notes issued after 1914 are referred to as Papiermark.

Currency signs.

In Unicode, the Mark sign is. The Pfennig is.

Goldmark () is the term by which the gold standard-based currency of the German Empire from 1873 to 1914 is usually referred to. Officially, the currency was just the "Mark", sign: M). Papiermark refers to the much devaluated Mark after the gold standard was given up in August 1914, and gold and silver coins ceased to circulate.

黄金马克是德意志帝国在1873年到1914年期间发行流通的货币。以取代德意志帝国统一前,各邦国自己发行的货币。 自1876年1月1日起,金马克成为德意志帝国内唯一的合法货币。德意志帝国发行金马克作为流通中的本位货币,加速了国际金本位制的形成。 到了1914年,帝国的金马克发行的区域相当之广,最远涉及的是德属东非(德语:Deutsch-Ostafrika),在那里发行了面值是15卢比的金币,不过铸造相当简陋。 1915年,最后的金马克金币-威廉二世身穿戎装的20马克金币在普鲁士发行,随着大战爆发,德意志帝国就没有发行金币,直到1919年第二帝国灭亡。


查尔斯·维利尔斯·斯坦福

Life.

Early years.

Stanford was born in Dublin, the only son of John James Stanford and his second wife, Mary, "née" Henn. John Stanford was a prominent Dublin lawyer, Examiner to the Court of Chancery in Ireland and Clerk of the Crown for County Meath. His wife was the third daughter of William Henn, Master of the Court of Chancery in Ireland, and granddaughter of the judge William Henn. Both parents were accomplished amateur musicians; John Stanford was a cellist and a noted bass singer who was chosen to perform the title role in Mendelssohn's "Elijah" at the Irish premiere in

Cambridge.

Stanford immersed himself in the musical life of the university to the detriment of his Latin and Greek studies. He composed religious and secular vocal works, a piano concerto, and incidental music for Longfellow's play "A Spanish Student". In November 1870 he appeared as piano soloist with the Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS), and quickly became its assistant conductor and a committee member. The society had declined in excellence since its foundation in 1843. Its choir consisted solely of men and boys; the lack of women singers severely limited the works that the society could present. Stanford was unable to persuade the members to admit women, and so he staged what "The Musical Times" called "a bloodless revolution." In February 1872 he co-founded a mixed choir, the Amateur Vocal Guild, whose performances immediately put those of the CUMS singers in the shade. The members of CUMS rapidly changed their minds, and agreed to a merger of the two choirs, with women given associate membership of

Leipzig.

On the recommendation of Sir William Sterndale Bennett, former professor of music at Cambridge and now director of the Royal Academy of Music, Stanford went to Leipzig in the summer of 1874 for lessons with Carl Reinecke, professor of composition and piano at the Leipzig Conservatory. The composer Thomas Dunhill commented that by 1874 it was "the tail-end of the Leipzig ascendancy, when the great traditions of Mendelssohn had already begun to fade." Nevertheless, Stanford did not seriously consider studying anywhere else. Neither Dublin nor London offered any comparable musical training; the most prestigious British music school, the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), was at that time hidebound and reactionary. He was dismayed to find in Leipzig that Bennett had recommended him to a German pedant no more progressive than the teachers at the RAM. Stanford said of Reinecke, "Of all the dry musicians I

Rising composer.

Returning to Cambridge in the intervals of his studies in Germany, Stanford had resumed his work as conductor of CUMS. He found the society in good shape under his deputy, Eaton Faning, and able to tackle demanding new works. In 1876 the society presented one of the first performances in Britain of the Brahms "Requiem". In 1877 CUMS came to national attention when it presented the first British performance of Brahms's First Symphony.  During the same period, Stanford was becoming known as a composer. He was composing prolifically, though he later withdrew some of his works from these years, including a violin concerto which, according to Rodmell, suffered from "undistinguished thematic material." In 1875 his First Symphony won the second prize in a competition held at the Alexandra Palace for symphonies by British composers, although he had to wait a further two years to hear the work performed. In the same year Stanford directed the first performance of his oratorio "The Resurrection", given by CUMS. At the request

Professor.

In 1883, the Royal College of Music was set up to replace the short-lived and unsuccessful National Training School for Music (NTSM). Neither the NTSM nor the longer-established Royal Academy of Music had provided adequate musical training for professional orchestral players, and the founder-director of the college, George Grove, was determined that the new institution should succeed in doing so. His two principal allies in this undertaking were the violinist Henry Holmes and Stanford. In a study of the founding of the college, David

Conductor and composer.

During the last decades of the 19th century, Stanford's academic duties did not prevent him from composing or performing. He was appointed conductor of the Bach Choir, London, in 1885, succeeding its founding conductor Otto Goldschmidt. He held the post until 1902. Hans von Bülow conducted the German premiere of Stanford's "Irish" Symphony in Hamburg in January 1888, and was sufficiently impressed by the work to programme it in Berlin shortly afterwards. Richter conducted it in Vienna, and Mahler later conducted it in New York. For the Theatre Royal, Cambridge, Stanford composed incidental music for productions of Aeschylus's "The Eumenides" (1885), and Sophocles' "Oedipus Tyrannos" (1887). "The Times" said of the former, "Mr. Stanford's music is dramatically significant, as well as beautiful in itself. It has, moreover, that quality so rare among modern

20th century.

In 1901 Stanford returned once again to opera, with "Much Ado About Nothing", to a libretto by Julian Sturgis that was exceptionally faithful to Shakespeare's original. "The Manchester Guardian" commented, "Not even in the "Falstaff" of Arrigo Boito and Giuseppe Verdi have the characteristic charm, the ripe and pungent individuality of the original comedy been more sedulously preserved."  Despite good notices for the opera, Stanford's star was waning. In the first decade of the century, his music became eclipsed by that of a younger composer, Edward Elgar. In the words of the music scholar Robert Anderson, Stanford "had his innings with continental reputation in the latter decades of the nineteenth century, but then Elgar bowled him out." When Elgar was struggling for recognition in the 1890s, Stanford had been supportive of his younger colleague, conducting his music, putting him forward for a Cambridge doctorate, and proposing him for membership of the exclusive London

Last years.

The First World War had a severe effect on Stanford. He was frightened by air-raids, and had to move from London to Windsor to avoid them. Many of his former pupils were casualties of the fighting, including Arthur Bliss, wounded, Ivor Gurney, gassed, and George Butterworth, killed. The annual RCM operatic production, which Stanford had supervised and conducted every year since 1885, had to be cancelled. His income declined, as the fall in student numbers at the college reduced the demand for his services. After a serious disagreement at the end of 1916, his relationship with Parry deteriorated to the point of hostility. Stanford's magnanimity, however, came to the fore when Parry died two years later and Stanford successfully lobbied for him to be buried in St Paul's Cathedral.  After the war, Stanford handed over much of the direction of the RCM's orchestra to Adrian Boult, but continued to teach at the college. He gave occasional public lectures, including one on "Some Recent Tendencies in Composition", in January 1921 which was belligerently hostile to most of

Honours.

Stanford received many honours, including honorary doctorates from Oxford (1883), Cambridge (1888), Durham (1894), Leeds (1904), and Trinity College, Dublin (1921). He was

Works.

Stanford composed about 200 works, including seven symphonies, about 40 choral works, nine operas, 11 concertos and 28 chamber works, as well as songs, piano pieces, incidental music, and organ works. He suppressed most of his earliest compositions; the earliest of works that he chose to include in his catalogue date from 1875.  Throughout his career as a composer, Stanford's technical mastery was rarely in doubt. The composer Edgar Bainton said of him, "Whatever opinions may be held upon Stanford's music, and they are many and various, it is, I think, always recognised that he was a master of means. Everything he turned his hand to always 'comes off. On the day of Stanford's death, one former pupil, Gustav Holst, said to another, Herbert Howells, "The one man who could get any one of us out of a technical mess is now gone from us."  After Stanford's death most of his music was quickly forgotten, with the exception of his works for church performance. His "Stabat Mater" and "Requiem" held their place in the choral repertoire, the latter championed by Sir Thomas Beecham. Stanford's two sets of sea songs and the song "The Blue Bird" were still performed from time to time, but even his most popular opera, "Shamus O'Brien" came to seem old fashioned with its "stage-Irish" vocabulary. However, in his 2002 study of Stanford, Dibble writes that the music, increasingly available on disc if not in live performance, still has the power to surprise. In Dibble's view, the frequent charge that Stanford is "Brahms and water" was disproved once the symphonies, concertos, much of the chamber music and many of the songs became available for reappraisal when recorded for compact disc. In 2002, Rodmell's study of Stanford included a discography running to 16 pages.  The criticism most often made of Stanford's music by writers from Shaw onwards is that his music lacks passion. Shaw praised "Stanford the Celt" and abominated "Stanford the Professor", who reined in the emotions of the Celt. In Stanford's church music, the critic Nicholas Temperley finds "a thoroughly satisfying artistic experience, but one that is perhaps lacking in deeply felt religious impulse." In his operas and elsewhere, Grove, Parry and later commentators found music that ought to convey love and romance failing to do so. Like Parry, Stanford strove for seriousness, and his competitive streak led him to emulate Sullivan not in comic opera, for which Stanford had a real gift, but in oratorio in what Rodmell calls grand statements that "only occasionally matched worthiness with power or profundity."

Recordings.

Although much of Stanford's music is neglected in the concert hall, a considerable amount has been recorded. Complete cycles of the symphonies have been recorded for the Chandos and Naxos labels, under the conductors Vernon Handley and David Lloyd-Jones. Other orchestral works recorded for CD include the six "Irish Rhapsodies", the Clarinet Concerto, the Second Piano Concerto and the Second Violin Concerto.  Stanford's church music is well represented on disc. In his 2002 discography, Rodmell lists 14 versions of the Service in B, alongside multiple recordings of the Services in A, F and C, the "Three Latin Motets"

Notes and references.

Notes References

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic Era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was educated at the University of Cambridge before studying music in Leipzig and Berlin. He was instrumental in raising the status of the Cambridge University Musical Society, attracting international stars to perform with it.

查尔斯·维利尔斯·斯坦福爵士(英语:Sir Charles Villiers Stanford,1852年-9月30日-1924年-3月29日),爱尔兰作曲家,音乐教育家。


On a plane.

Two lines.

For the determination of the intersection point of two non-parallel lines one gets, from Cramer's rule or by substituting out a variable, the coordinates of the intersection point formula_2 :

Two line segments.

For two non-parallel line segments formula_5 and formula_6 there is not necessarily an intersection point (see diagram), because the intersection point formula_7 of the corresponding lines need not to be contained in the line segments. In order to check the situation one uses parametric representations of the lines: The line segments intersect only in a common point formula_7 of the corresponding lines if the corresponding parameters formula_11 fulfill the condition formula_12. The parametrs formula_13 are the solution of the linear system It can be solved for "s" and "t" using Cramer's rule (see above). If the condition formula_12 is fulfilled one inserts formula_17 or formula_18 into the corresponding parametric representation and gets the intersection point formula_7.  "Example:" For the line segments formula_20 and formula_21 one gets the linear system and formula_24. That means: the lines intersect at point formula_25.  "Remark:" Considering lines, instead of segments, determined by pairs of points, each condition formula_12 can be dropped and the method yields the intersection point of the lines (see above).

A line and a circle.

For the intersection of one solves the line equation for or and substitutes it into the equation of the circle and gets for the solution (using the formula of a quadratic equation) formula_5 with if formula_32 If this condition holds with strict inequality, there are two intersection points; in this case the line is called a secant line of the circle, and the line segment connecting the intersection points is called a chord of the circle.  If formula_33 holds, there exists only one intersection point and the line is tangent to the circle. If the weak inequality does not hold, the line does not intersect the circle.  If the circle's midpoint is not the origin, see. The intersection of a line and a parabola or hyperbola may be treated analogously.

Two circles.

The determination of the intersection points of two circles can be reduced to the previous case of intersecting a line and a circle. By subtraction of the two given equations one gets the line equation: The intersection of two disks (the interiors of the two circles) forms a shape called a lens.

Two conic sections.

The problem of intersection of an ellipse/hyperbola/parabola with another conic section leads to a system of quadratic equations, which can be solved in special cases easily by elimination of one coordinate. Special properties of conic sections may be used to obtain a solution. In general the intersection points can be determined by solving the equation by a Newton iteration. If a) both conics are given implicitly (by an equation) a 2-dimensional Newton iteration b) one implicitly and the other parametrically given a 1-dimensional Newton iteration is necessary. See next section.

Two smooth curves.

Two curves in formula_36 (two-dimensional space), which are continuously differentiable (i.e. there is no sharp bend), have an intersection point, if they have a point of the plane in common and have at this point  If both the curves have a point and the tangent line there in common but do not cross each other, they are just "touching" at point.  Because touching intersections appear rarely and are difficult to deal with, the following considerations omit this case. In any case below all necessary differential conditions are presupposed. The determination of intersection points always leads to one or two non-linear equations which can be solved by Newton iteration. A list of the appearing cases follows:  Any Newton iteration needs convenient starting values, which can be derived by a visualization of both the curves. A parametrically or explicitly given curve can easily be visualized, because to any parameter or respectively it is easy to calculate the corresponding point. For implicitly given curves this task is not as easy. In this case one has to determine a curve point with help of starting values and an iteration. See  "Examples:"

Two polygons.

If one wants to determine the intersection points of two polygons, one can check the intersection of any pair of line segments of the polygons (see above). For polygons with many segments this method is rather time-consuming. In practice one accelerates the intersection algorithm by using "window tests". In this case one divides the polygons into small sub-polygons and determines the smallest window (rectangle with sides parallel to the coordinate axes) for any sub-polygon. Before starting the time-consuming determination of the intersection point of two line segments any pair of windows is tested for common points. See.

In space (three dimensions).

In 3-dimensional space there are intersection points (common points) between curves and surfaces. In the following sections we consider "transversal intersection" only.

A line and a plane.

The intersection of a line and a plane "in general position" in three dimensions is a point.  Commonly a line in space is represented parametrically formula_58 and a plane by an equation formula_59. Inserting the parameter representation into the equation yields the linear equation for parameter formula_18 of the intersection point formula_62.  If the linear equation has no solution, the line either lies on the plane or is parallel to it.

Three planes.

If a line is defined by two intersecting planes formula_63 and should be intersected by a third plane formula_64, the common intersection point of the three planes has to be evaluated.  Three planes formula_65 with linear independent normal vectors formula_66 have the intersection point For the proof one should establish formula_68 using the rules of a scalar triple product. If the scalar triple product equals to 0, then planes either do not have the triple intersection or it is a line (or a plane, if all three planes are the same).

A curve and a surface.

Analogously to the plane case the following cases lead to non-linear systems, which can be solved using a 1- or 3-dimensional Newton iteration.  Example:  A line–sphere intersection is a simple special case.  Like the case of a line and a plane, the intersection of a curve and a surface "in general position" consists of discrete points, but a curve may be partly or totally contained in a surface.

Two surfaces.

Two transversally intersecting surfaces give an intersection curve. The most simple case the intersection line of two non-parallel planes.

In geometry, an intersection is a point, line, or curve common to two or more objects (such as lines, curves, planes, and surfaces). The simplest case in Euclidean geometry is the intersection of two distinct lines, which either is one point or does not exist if the lines are parallel.

在数学中,相交是两个几何图形之间关系的一种。两个图形相交是指它们有公共的部分,或者说同时属于两者的点的集合不是空集。若两个几何图形在某个地方有且只有一个交点,则可以称为相切而不是相交。如果两个图形完全重合,则一般不称为相交。


Necropolis.

There are a total of 14 pyramids at this site, which served as the main royal necropolis during the Fifth Dynasty. The quality of construction of the Abusir pyramids is inferior to those of the Fourth Dynasty; perhaps signalling a decrease in royal power or a less vibrant economy. They are smaller than their predecessors, and are built of low quality local stone. All of the major pyramids at Abusir were built as step pyramids, although the largest of them — the Pyramid of Neferirkare — is believed to have originally been built as a step pyramid some seventy metres in height and then later transformed into a "true" pyramid by having its steps filled in with loose masonry.

Major pyramids.

The three major pyramids are

Mastabas of courtiers.

The tombs of several high officials and family members are located in the direct vicinity of their king's pyramid:

Abusir-south.

Directly north of Saqqara is a cemetery of lower-ranking officials of the Old Kingdom, including the following tombs:

Saite-Persian cemetery.

On a small hill directly south of the pyramid of Neferefre is a cemetery of tombs from the Saite period:

A temple.

Also found at Abusir were substantial remains of a Ramesside temple, perhaps built by Ramses II. The temple lies about 500 meters south east of the pyramids, close to the cultivation in the desert. The main building of the temple was built of limestone. There were three cellars, a small hall with four columns and a courtyard (with mudbrick walls) with ten limestone columns. The limestone building was placed within a larger complex made of mud bricks with a pylon and magazines.

Site looting during 2011 protests.

Abusir, Saqqara and Dahshur suffered damage by looters during the 2011 Egyptian protests. Part of the false door from the tomb of the priest Rahotep was stolen, and store rooms were broken into.  Systematic looting continues into 2013 with organized digging and destruction of tombs and mummies.

Climate.

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies it climate as hot desert (BWh), as the rest of Egypt.

Abusir ( ; Egyptian "pr wsjr"; "", "the House or Temple of Osiris"; ) is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis of the Old Kingdom period, together with later additions – in the vicinity of the modern capital Cairo. The name is also that of a neighbouring village in the Nile Valley, whence the site takes its name. Abusir is located several kilometres north of Saqqara and, like it, served as one of the main elite cemeteries for the ancient Egyptian capital city of Memphis. Several other villages in northern and southern Egypt are named Abusir or Busiri. Abusir is one relatively small segment of the extensive "pyramid field" that extends from north of Giza to below Saqqara. The locality of Abusir took its turn as the focus of the prestigious western burial rites operating out of the then-capital of Memphis during the Old Kingdom 5th Dynasty. As an elite cemetery, neighbouring Giza had by then "filled up" with the massive pyramids and other monuments of the 4th Dynasty, leading the 5th Dynasty pharaohs to seek sites elsewhere for their own funerary monuments.

阿布西尔(一译阿布什尔、阿布瑟尔;埃及语:"pr wsjr";科普特语:,"busiri",意为「欧西里斯之殿」;希腊语:;;)是埃及学家就开罗附近的一个古王国时期大型墓地(连同其后来所加的建筑)而命名的考古场地。另外,阿布西尔亦是尼罗河河谷附近的一条村落的名字。


Size.

The pyramid has a base length of 215.5 m (706 ft) and rises up to a height of. It is made of limestone blocks weighing more than 2 tons each. The slope of the pyramid rises at a 53° 13' angle, steeper than its neighbor, the Pyramid of Khufu, which has an angle of 51°50'24". Khafre's pyramid sits on bedrock 10 m (33 ft) higher than Khufu's pyramid, which makes it appear to be taller.

History.

The pyramid was likely opened and robbed during the First Intermediate Period. During the Nineteenth Dynasty, the overseer of temple construction took casing stones to build a temple in Heliopolis on Ramesses II's orders.  Arab historian Ibn Abd al-Salam recorded that the pyramid was opened in 1372 AD. On the wall of the burial chamber, there is an Arabic graffito that probably dates from the same time.  It is not known when the rest of the casing stones were robbed; they were presumably still in place by 1646, when John Greaves, professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford in his "Pyramidographia", wrote that, while its stones weren't as large or as regularly laid as in Khufu's, the surface was smooth and even free of breaches of inequalities, except on the south. The pyramid was first explored in modern times by Giovanni Belzoni on March 2, 1818, when the original entrance was found on the north side. Belzoni had hopes of finding an intact burial but the chamber was empty except for an open sarcophagus and its broken lid on the floor. The first complete exploration was conducted by John Perring in 1837. In 1853, Auguste Mariette partially excavated Khafre's valley temple, and, in 1858, while completing its clearance, he managed to discover a diorite statue of Khafre.

Construction.

Like the Great Pyramid, a rock outcropping was used in the core. Due to the slope of the plateau, the northwest corner was cut 10 m (33 ft) out of the rock subsoil and the southeast corner is built up.  The pyramid is built of horizontal courses. The stones used at the bottom are very large, but as the pyramid rises, the stones become smaller, becoming only thick at the apex. The courses are rough and irregular for the first half of its height but a narrow band of regular masonry is clear in the midsection of the pyramid. At the northwest corner of the pyramid, the bedrock was fashioned into steps. Casing stones cover the top third of the pyramid, but the pyramidion and part of the apex are missing.  The bottom course of casing stones was made out of pink granite but the remainder of the pyramid was cased in Tura Limestone. Close examination reveals that the corner edges of remaining casing stones are not completely straight, but are staggered by a few millimeters. One theory is that this is due to settling from seismic activity. An alternative theory postulates that the slope on the blocks was cut to shape before being placed due to the limited working space towards the top of the pyramid.

Interior.

Two entrances lead to the burial chamber, one that opens 11.54 m (38 ft) up the face of the pyramid and one that opens at the base of the pyramid. These passageways do not align with the centerline of the pyramid, but are offset to the east by 12 m (39 ft). The lower descending passageway is carved completely out of the bedrock, descending, running horizontal, then ascending to join the horizontal passage leading to the burial chamber.  One theory as to why there are two entrances is that the pyramid was intended to be much larger with the northern base shifted 30 m (98 ft) further to the north which would make Khafre's pyramid much larger than his father's. This would place the entrance to the lower descending passage within the masonry of the pyramid. While the bedrock is cut away farther from the pyramid on the north side than on the west side, it is not clear that there is enough room on the plateau for the enclosure wall and pyramid terrace. An alternative theory is that, as with many earlier pyramids, plans were changed and the entrance was moved midway through construction.  There is a subsidiary chamber, equal in length to the c.412"-long King's Chamber of the Khufu pyramid, that opens to the west of the lower passage, the purpose of which is uncertain. It may be used to store offerings, store burial equipment, or it may be a serdab chamber. The upper descending passage is clad in granite and descends to join with the horizontal passage to the burial chamber.  The burial chamber was carved out of a pit in the bedrock. The roof is constructed of gabled limestone beams. The chamber is rectangular, 14.15 m by 5 m (46.4 ft x 16 ft), and is oriented east-west. Khafre's sarcophagus was carved out of a solid block of granite and sunk partially in the floor, in it, Belzoni found bones of an animal, possibly a bull. Another pit in the floor likely contained the canopic chest, its lid would have been one of the pavement slabs.

Pyramid complex.

Satellite pyramid.

Along the centerline of the pyramid on the south side was a satellite pyramid, but almost nothing remains other than some core blocks and the outline of the foundation. It contains two descending passages, one of them ending in a dead end with a niche which contained pieces of ritualistic furniture.

Khafre's temples.

The temples of Khafre's complex survive in much better condition than Khufu's, this being specially true to the Valley Temple, which is substantially preserved. To the east of the Pyramid sits the mortuary temple. Though it is now largely in ruins, enough of it survives to understand the plan. It is larger than previous temples and is the first to include all five standard elements of later mortuary temples: an entrance hall, a columned court, five niches for statues of the pharaoh, five storage chambers, and an inner sanctuary. There were over 50 life size statues of Khafre, but these were removed and recycled, possibly by Ramses II. The temple was built of megalithic blocks (the largest is an estimated 400 tonnes).  A causeway runs to the valley temple, which is very similar to the mortuary temple. It is built of megalithic blocks sheathed in red granite. The square pillars of the T-shaped hallway were made of solid granite, and the floor was paved in alabaster. The exterior was built of huge blocks, some weighing over 100 tonnes. Though devoid of any internal decoration, this temple would have been filled with symbolism: two doors open into a vestibule and a large pillared hall, in which there were sockets in the floor that would have fixed 23 statues of Khafre. These columns have since been plundered. The interior, made of granite of the Valley Temple, is remarkably well preserved. The exterior made of limestone is much more weathered.  The so-called temple of the Sphinx is not attested to any king, but structural similarities to Khafre's mortuary temple point to him as its builder. Opening to a hall with 24 columns, each with its own statue, two sanctuaries and symmetric design, it is possible but unsure if this temple had any symbolism attached to the finished plan.

Sphinx.

The sphinx, probably built out of a rock formation used to cut the blocks for the pyramid itself, may have been part of the complex.

The Pyramid of Khafre or of Chephren (, ) is the second-tallest and second-largest of the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza and the tomb of the Fourth-Dynasty pharaoh Khafre (Chefren), who ruled from to 2532 BC.

卡夫拉金字塔(阿拉伯语:هرم خفرع),也称齐夫林金字塔,是埃及的一座金字塔,也是埃及第2大的金字塔,仅次于胡夫金字塔。卡夫拉金字塔,在公元前2570年动工建造,也是埃及第四王朝法老卡夫拉的陵墓。卡夫拉金字塔与附近2座金字塔相异的是,在金字塔顶端,仍然保留着部分的石灰岩外壳,这些贴皮至今尚未脱落。