Works.

César-Egasse du Boulay in his "Hist. Univ. Paris." (1665) first called attention to Walter's treatise "Contra quatuor labyrinthos Franciae" ("Against the Four Labyrinths of France") and published excerpts from it.  The "four labyrinths" against whom the work is directed are four of the major masters of early scholastic thought: Abelard, Gilbert de la Porrée, Peter Lombard, and Peter of Poitiers. It is a bitter attack on the dialectical method in theology, and condemns the use of logic in the elucidation of the mysteries of faith.  Walter is indignant at the thought of treating the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation "with scholastic levity". Discarding the best traditions of the School of St-Victor, he pours abuse on the philosophers, the theologians, and even the grammarians. "Thy grammar be with thee until perdition", he cries. This violence, however, defeated his purpose, which was to discredit the dialecticians.  Not only did he fail to convince his contemporaries, but he very probably hastened the triumph of the method which he attacked. Four years after his polemic was published, Peter of Poitiers, one of the "labyrinths", was raised by the pope to the dignity of Chancellor of the Diocese of Paris, and before the end of the decade Peter Lombard, another of the "Labyrinths", was recognized as an authority in theology, his method adopted in the schools, and his famous "Books of Sentences" used as a text and commented on by all the great teachers — a distinction which it retained all through the thirteenth century.  Some of Walter's sermons also survive.

On suicide.

He has been credited with coining the term "suicide" (as the Latin "suicida").

Walter of Saint Victor (d. c. 1180) was a mystic philosopher and theologian, and an Augustinian canon of Paris. Nothing is known about Walter except that, in about the year 1175, he was prior of St. Victor's Abbey, Paris; that about the time of the Third Lateran Council (1179) he wrote the celebrated polemic, "Contra quatuor labyrinthos Franciae"; and that he died about the year 1180.


Ancestry.

Coghen was the son of Joseph Coghen (1749-1820), an apothecary, and his wife, Isabelle Stielemans, who was a native of Brussels.  His paternal grandfather, Jan Baptist Coghen (1717-1773) was born, was married, and died in Brussels. He was descended very remotely, on his father's side, from an old Irish family.  His paternal grandmother, Catharina Theresia Huwaerts (1710-1749), was also born and died in Brussels, and her parents, Marie Therese van Cutsem (1668-1726/1727) and Joose Huwaerts (d. 1742), as well as their parents, were also from old Dutch families in the Brussels area (including such families as Ghysels, Walravens, de Broijer, Haeck, de Proost, and de Leenheer).  His mother was descended from several ancient Belgian families, from Brussels and Diest, whose ancestors in the sixteenth century appear to have been butchers and merchants, and who in the early seventeenth century included magistrates of the old county of Campine ("Kempen" in Dutch).

Early life and business.

Coghen was born on 31 October 1791.  He was married, on 17 May 1821, to Caroline Rittweger, with whom they had several children.  Before the Belgian Revolution broke out, Coghen was a respected merchant and banker in Brussels; he was Chairman of the Commercial Court and a member of the Advisory Chamber of Commerce. In 1824, he co-founded, with Francois Rittweger, AG Life, the life insurance company, and in 1830, AG Fire, both of which later became part of the €45 billion Fortis, "the oldest and most important insurance company in Belgium", until its collapse in 2008.  He helped to start a glass factory cooperative company, Verreries de Mariemont, in 1829. Also in 1829, he bought Wolvendael, a 1763 castle near Uccle, from duke Charles-Louis-Auguste de Looz-Corswarem.

Public life.

Dutch Troops had scarcely retreated from the capital of Belgium, when the Provisional Government, on 28 September 1830, named Coghen deputy head of the new Federal Finance commission, until the first meeting of the "Congress national". Between October 1830 and February 1831, Coghen served on this new "Conseil des Commissaires" ("Congress of Commissioners") for the new nation's banking. For a short time in the fall of 1830, the new finance commission only had two employees, Coghen and an assistant attorney.  In the first elections for the municipal council in October 1830, Coghen was elected as one of the representatives; he was re-elected in 1836, and served until 1840. At this time, it was his determination not to remain a member of the board, which was caused by the opposition in the assembly regarding the project to rebuild the Palace of Justice in Brussels. The Leopold district project was sponsored by financial companies, particularly by the "Civil society for the expansion and beautification of Brussels", of which Coghen was one of the founders.  Coghen also served on the National Congress; he had felt obliged to accept the offer that was made to him. In 1831, he joined the House of Representatives as member from the district of Brussels, and was re-elected in 1833, in 1837, and in 1841. He was defeated in 1845, when the struggle became more intense between the two parties that divided the country, but he was sent in 1848, by the voters in the same district, to the Senate, where he remained a member until his death. He also was one of the vice-presidents of the Senate when he died.  Coghen joined the cabinet of the first Muelenaere Government that was formed by king Leopold I on 24 July 1831. He held the finance portfolio until 20 October 1832. He went through a difficult period marked by the Ten Days' Campaign, a failed attempt to suppress the Belgian revolution by the Dutch king William I between 1 August and 12 August 1831. He later reorganized some utilities.  On 20 October 1832, the Muelenaere Government fell, and the King called the first Rogier government; thus "Coghen was replaced as the minister of Finances by Auguste Duvivier."

Return to business and later career.

After 1832, he returned to private life, when he devoted himself with ardor to some major financial, industrial and commercial enterprises. He became a director and shareholder of the Verreries de Mariemont, in 1835. He was a director of the General Society of Belgium, arguably the most important company that has ever existed in Belgium, which has since been merged into the Suez-Tractebel group. The company had owned very large estates, some of which were sold off to members of the Board. The company invested in banks, coal mining, and utilities. In 1841, he was recorded as having been first appointed an "administrateur" (member of the board of directors) of the General Society of Belgium, with his title as "ancien ministre de finances" (former finance minister).  He was also a member of the Board of the Central School of Commerce and Industry.  He had purchased a castle, Wolvendael in Uccle, and land in the Sonian Forest. He made some improvements to the castle, adding three bays.  In 1851, Coghen returned to public life, this time the Senate; it has not been unusual for aristocrats to be elected directly to that position. Previously a Unionist, he broke with the Liberal party and then joined the Catholic party, in the controversy over a new inheritance law. In 1855, he was re-elected to the Senate after returning to the Liberal party, and served as vice-president of the Senate at the time of his death.

Honours and awards.

After successfully securing a loan to the Roman Court, Pope Gregory XVI granted him the title of Count. The first king of the Belgians sanctioned this distinction by giving him the rank of Count for himself and the comital title to his male descendants (Royal Decree December 30, 1837).

Death and legacy.

Colghen died in Lembeek, on 16 May 1858. He is buried at Laeken Cemetery in Brussels. After his death, his family sold his estate at Wolvendael into lots; today, most of his estate is a city park in Uccle, and the old castle retains some improvements made by Coghen.  In 2004, the city of Genk named a street after Coghen.  The local history society of Uccle has a collection of papers by and about Coghen.  His daughter, Isabelle Coghen (1822-1891), married Theodore Mosselman du Chenoy. Their daughter Laura Mosselman du Chenoy married Fulco Tristano Beniamino Ruffo di Calabria (1848-1901). Their son Fulco Ruffo di Calabria was the father of Queen Paola. Through them, Coghen is a great-great-great grandfather of the current King of the Belgians, Phillipe.

Count Jacques Andres Coghen (31 October 1791 in Brussels – 15 May 1858 in Brussels) was the second Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Belgium (1831-1832), and a direct ancestor of the current King, Philippe of Belgium.


History.

The town was named for the Kiowa people. Settled in 1859, it was originally named "Wendling" after an early settler. It was called "Middle Kiowa" from the 1860s until 1912, when it was incorporated and the word "Middle" was dropped. It became the county seat of Elbert County in 1874. Kiowa suffered from major flooding in 1935.

Geography.

Kiowa is located in western Elbert County at (39.344207, −104.462714), on the east side of Kiowa Creek, a north-flowing tributary of the South Platte River. Colorado State Highway 86 passes through the town, leading east to Limon and west to Castle Rock. The town of Elizabeth is west on SH 86.  According to the United States Census Bureau, Kiowa has a total area of, all of it land.

Demographics.

As of the census of 2000, there were 581 people, 227 households, and 152 families residing in the town. However, outside of this incorporated town's limits there are several thousand other new residents of this fast-growing county. The population density was 1,190.3 people per square mile (457.8/km). There were 243 housing units at an average density of 497.9 per square mile (191.5/km). The racial makeup of the town was 94.49% White, 0.34% African American, 0.86% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 1.20% from other races, and 2.93% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.30% of the population.  There were 227 households, out of which 41.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 24.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10.  In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.5% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 36.3% from 25 to 44, 17.0% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.  The median income for a household in the town was $40,809, and the median income for a family was $42,353. Males had a median income of $34,875 versus $26,071 for females. The per capita income for the town was $17,885. About 7.0% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

The town of Kiowa is a home rule municipality and the county seat of Elbert County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 723 at the 2010 United States Census, up from 581 at the 2000 census.


History.

Hot Sulphur Springs was originally a winter campground for Native Americans who came to use the hot springs for medicinal purposes. In 1840 William Newton Byers, founder of the "Rocky Mountain News", was the first European American to document the springs. The town was established in 1860, making it the oldest town in the county, originally named "Saratoga West" and sometimes called "Warm Springs".  In 1863 the town site was bought by Byers in a backroom deal with a Minnesota Sioux woman despite a treaty naming the Ute tribe as the lawful owners, who unsuccessfully sued Byers, while Byers and territorial governors William Gilpin and John Evans launched a "The Utes Must Go" campaign with the help of the U.S. Cavalry. Wishing to create a world-famous spa and resort ("the American Switzerland"), Byers changed the name and surveyed, platted, and named the streets, attracting famous visitors including Zane Grey and John Wesley Powell. The first pool house was built ca. 1900.  When Grand County was formed, Hot Sulphur Springs was the first county seat from 1874 to 1882, after which it moved to Grand Lake. The county seat returned in 1888 and has been there ever since.  Byers died on March 25, 1903. The town was incorporated on April 1, 1903. His original family cabin is located at 204 Byers Avenue along what is now Highway 40. The building is currently the county's only mortuary.  The first winter carnival in Hot Sulphur Springs was held on December 31, 1911. The success of this event led to a three-day carnival which took place on February 10–12, 1912. The following winter, a second annual winter carnival was planned in conjunction with the first Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Carnival. This series of events led to the creation of Howelsen Hill Ski Area in Steamboat Springs, and is credited with playing a large role in the birth of the Colorado ski industry.  The big plans of Byers were prevented by the slow arrival of the railroad in 1928 (after the construction of the Moffat Tunnel), and eventually the railroad quit stopping there, although the town is still a resort attracting many visitors. The first lodging rooms opened in 1926.  In 1997 the resort was extensively renovated, and the Ute tribal spiritual leader blessed the waters at the opening ceremony, attended by almost 1,000, which welcomed the Utes to use the springs once again.  Payday was always the last day of the month and was considered a dangerous day because of the many gunfights that occurred. Because Halloween is October 31, the last day of the month, the people of the town celebrated Halloween on the 30th to keep children safe, which continues to the present day.

Geography.

Hot Sulphur Springs is located in central Grand County at (40.073318, -106.101470). It is located along the Colorado River, just east (upstream) of where the river enters Byers Canyon. U.S. Route 40 passes through the center of town as Byers Avenue; it leads east to Granby, the largest town in the county, and west to Kremmling.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, all of it land.

Climate.

This climate type is dominated by the winter season, a long, bitterly cold period with short, clear days, relatively little precipitation mostly in the form of snow, and low humidity. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Hot Sulphur Springs has a subarctic climate, abbreviated "Dfc" on climate maps.

Demographics.

As of the census of 2000, there were 521 people, 196 households, and 131 families residing in the town. The population density was 674.5 people per square mile (261.2/km2). There were 227 housing units at an average density of 293.9 per square mile (113.8/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 94.82% White, 0.38% African American, 1.92% Native American, 2.11% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.10% of the population.  There were 196 households out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were married couples living together, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 25.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.98.  In the town, the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 122.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 134.5 males.  The median income for a household in the town was $39,306, and the median income for a family was $46,000. Males had a median income of $42,431 versus $20,208 for females. The per capita income for the town was $24,012. About 2.3% of families and 5.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

Hot springs.

The hot sulphur springs are located in just outside the town limits on the west side of the Colorado River. The natural hot springs are heated from geothermal activity.  The Pioneer Village Museum is also located in Hot Sulphur Springs.

Hot Sulphur Springs is a statutory town and the county seat of Grand County, Colorado, United States. The town is located near Byers Canyon between Granby and Kremmling, northwest of Denver and northwest of Winter Park. The town population was 663 at the 2010 census, and has an elevation of.


Geography.

Gooding is located at (42.937097, -114.713480), near the confluence of the Big Wood River and Little Wood River, which merge to form the Malad River.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which, is land and is water.

Demographics.

2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,567 people, 1,395 households, and 864 families residing in the city. The population density was. There were 1,537 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 84.6% White, 0.4% African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 11.2% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.9% of the population.  There were 1,395 households of which 35.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.3% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.1% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 19% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.26.  The median age in the city was 33.5 years. 29.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.5% were from 25 to 44; 19% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.0% male and 50.0% female.

2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,384 people, 1,304 households, and 842 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,461.0 people per square mile (946.8/km2). There were 1,397 housing units at an average density of 1,016.0 per square mile (390.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 89.51% White, 0.15% African American, 1.60% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 5.97% from other races, and 2.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.80% of the population.  There were 1,304 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.5% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.4% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.11.  In the city, the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.4 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $29,316, and the median income for a family was $33,309. Males had a median income of $24,688 versus $16,926 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,752. About 12.4% of families and 17.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.

Schools.

There are six schools based in Gooding; four in the Gooding Joint School District, the North Valley Academy charter school, and the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind.

Gooding Joint School District.

The Gooding Joint School District operates three schools: Gooding Elementary School, Gooding Middle School, and Gooding High School.  There are approximately 1200 students in the district. It ranks 43rd in size amongst the 114 school districts in Idaho.  The Gooding Joint School District was ranked in fourth place (in the small district category) on the Digital School Districts Survey, for its ""use of technology to govern the district <nowiki>[and to]</nowiki> communicate with students, parents and the community.""  Gooding School District was the first district in the nation to win the HealthierUS Challenge "Gold Award of Distinction."

North Valley Academy.

The North Valley Academy charter school was approved December 20, 2007. Kindergarten through eighth grade started in the 2008–2009 school year, grades 9-12 began in the 2009–2010 school year.

The Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind (ISDB) was first established in 1906 in Boise and operated there until it burned down on December 8, 1908. The Idaho Legislature passed an act on March 16, 1909 establishing a permanent state school. Governor Frank Gooding donated land for the ISDB so it was moved to Gooding and started accepting students in September 1910. The school covers a area and provides dormitories for many of its students and has other facilities, such as a gymnasium and park.

Sanitation.

The city of Gooding has their own trucks and containers for garbage collection. Residents are billed for this service via a monthly utility bill that also includes billing for water and sewerage services. Each occupied residence is furnished with one 90 gallon disposal container. Residential containers are emptied once weekly. In 2010, sanitation became a widely debated issue in the lead up to municipal post elections, although there have since been no change to their arrangements.

Gooding is the county seat and largest city of Gooding County, Idaho, United States. The population was 3,567 at the 2010 census.


College career.

He was both a punter and a placekicker at Southern Mississippi, once kicking a then-record 61-yard field goal in a snowstorm during a game in Utah. In 1972, he kicked a 93-yard punt in a game against the University of Mississippi. After his senior season at Southern Miss, Guy was named Most Valuable Player of the 1973 Chicago College All-Star Game, in which an all-star team of college seniors played the current Super Bowl champion. He was also a starting safety at Southern Miss; during his senior season, he intercepted a school-record eight passes, and was named an All-American defensive back.

Professional career.

Guy was the first punter ever to be selected in the first round in the NFL Draft, in 1973. Ray Guy was selected to seven Pro Bowl teams, and in 1994, he was named the punter on the National Football League's 75th Anniversary Team. His trademark was kicking punts that stayed in the air for so long that by the time the punt returner was able to field it, the Raiders' coverage unit had the field covered so well that a return was not possible. Guy's punts often left opposing offenses pinned deep into their own end of the field. The statistic for hang time was instituted in the NFL during his career, reportedly because of him. Joe Horrigan, the historian of the Pro Football Hall of Fame once said: "He's the first punter you could look at and say: 'He won games.'"  In Super Bowl XVIII, Guy punted seven times for 299 yards (42.7 average), with 244 net yards (34.8 average) and planted five of his seven punts inside the 20. Due in part to his effective punting, the Los Angeles Raiders easily won the game, 38-9.  Guy also played quarterback in his early years; for much of his career he was the Raiders' emergency quarterback, replacing kicker-quarterback George Blanda in this position. During the early part of Guy's career, he would occasionally do kickoffs for the Raiders because the aging Blanda no longer had great range.  During a 1977 game against the Houston Oilers, Oilers coach Bum Phillips suspected that Guy was using footballs illegally inflated with helium because he had "never seen anyone hang kickoffs like Guy did", and that the ball was "hanging up there too long"; additionally, the Raiders were using a new ball for every punt, adding to his suspicions. Phillips said after the game that he would have the ball sent to Rice University for testing. Guy punted 3 times for 107 yards in the game.  In his 13-year career, Guy:

Hall of Fame.

Guy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2014 on August 2, 2014. For many years before his induction in 2014, he was considered one of the most worthy players who had not yet been selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1994, he was the first pure punter to be nominated for enshrinement. In his enshrinement speech, he proudly proclaimed, "Now the Hall of Fame has a complete team."  Guy has been inducted into both the Mississippi and Georgia Sports Halls of Fame, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame. On April 21, 2008, Guy was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Ray Guy Award.

In 2000, the Greater Augusta Sports Council instituted the Ray Guy Award, to be awarded to the nation's best collegiate punter. Since many collegiate punters nominated for the Ray Guy Award are either former students or work at his kicking camps, Guy himself does not participate in the voting process to avoid accusations of favoritism.

Pro kicking camps.

In 2005, Guy helped organize and participated in two-day kicking camps, held throughout the United States, for high-school punters, placekickers, and longsnappers. In 2007, the camp was once again held on the campus of Colorado College. He has help from son Ryan Guy.

Personal life.

Guy was married to Beverly Guy. The couple has two children, Ryan and Amber.  On August 14, 2011, Guy filed for bankruptcy and was forced to put up his Super Bowl rings for auction. The auction of the rings brought in $96,216, slightly higher than the upper estimate of 90K.

William Ray Guy (born December 22, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a punter for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Guy was a unanimous All-American selection in 1972 as a senior at the University of Southern Mississippi, and was the first pure punter ever to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, when the Oakland Raiders selected him with the 23rd overall pick in 1973. Guy was elected to both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. A six-time NFL All-Pro, Guy is widely considered to be the greatest punter of all time.


Theatrical acclaim and "Lord Dundreary".

Among "Our American Cousin"'s cast was British actor Edward Askew Sothern, playing Lord Dundreary, a caricature of a brainless English nobleman. Sothern had already achieved fame on the New York stage in the play "Camille" in 1856, and had been reluctant to take on the role because he felt that it was too small and unimportant. He mentioned his qualms to his friend Joseph Jefferson, who had been cast in the lead role, and Jefferson supposedly responded with the famous line: "There are no small parts, only small actors."  "Our American Cousin" premiered in New York on October 15, 1858. After several weeks of performances, Sothern began portraying the role more broadly, as a lisping, skipping, eccentric, weak-minded fop prone to nonsensical references to sayings of his "bwother" Sam. His ad-libs were a sensation, earning good notices for his physical comedy and spawning much imitation and mockery in both the United States and England. Sothern gradually expanded the role, adding gags and business until it became the central figure of the play. The most famous scene involved Dundreary reading a letter from his even sillier brother. The play ran for 150 nights, which was very successful for a New York run at the time. Sothern made his London debut in the role when the play ran for 496 performances at the Haymarket Theatre in 1861, earning rave reviews. "The Athenaeum" wrote, "it is certainly the funniest thing in the world... a vile caricature of a vain nobleman, intensely ignorant, and extremely indolent". Sothern successfully revived the play many times, making Dundreary by far his most famous role.  "Dundrearyisms", twisted aphorisms in the style of Lord Dundreary (e.g. "birds of a feather gather no moss"), enjoyed a brief vogue. And the character's style of beard – long, bushy sideburns – gave the English language the word "dundrearies". In his autobiography, writer George Robert Sims recalled that "we went Dundreary mad in '61. The shop windows were filled with Dundreary scarves, and Brother Sam scarves, and there were Dundreary collars and Dundreary shirts, and Dundrearyisms were on every lip."  It was not long before the success of this play inspired an imitation, Charles Gayler's "Our Female American Cousin", which opened in New York City in January 1859. None of the characters from the original play appeared in this comedy. A number of sequel plays to "Our American Cousin" were written, all featuring several characters from the original, and focusing on the Lord Dundreary character. The first was Gayler's "Our American Cousin at Home, or, Lord Dundreary Abroad", which premiered in Buffalo, New York, in November 1860, and had its New York City debut the following May. Later sequels included Henry James Byron's "Dundreary Married and Done For", and John Oxenford's "Brother Sam" (1862; revived in 1865), a play about Dundreary's brother.

Synopsis.

Act I.

In the drawing room at Trenchard Manor, the servants remark on their employer's poor financial circumstances. Florence Trenchard, an aristocratic young beauty, loves Lieutenant Harry Vernon of the Royal Navy, but she is unable to marry him until he progresses to a higher rank. She receives a letter from her brother Ned, who is currently in the United States. Ned has met some rustic cousins from a branch of the family that had immigrated to America two centuries earlier. They relay to Ned that great-uncle Mark Trenchard had, after angrily disinheriting his children and leaving England years ago, found these cousins in Brattleboro, Vermont. He had moved in with them and eventually made Asa, one of the sons, heir to his property in England. Asa is now sailing to England to claim the estate.  Asa is noisy, coarse, and vulgar, but honestly forthright and colourful. The English Trenchards are alternately amused and appalled by this Vermont cousin. Richard Coyle, agent of the estate, meets with Sir Edward Trenchard (Florence's father) and tells the baronet that the family faces bankruptcy unless they can repay a debt to Coyle. Coyle is concealing the evidence that the loan had been repaid long ago by Sir Edward's late father. Coyle suggests that the loan would be satisfied if he may marry Florence, who detests him. Meanwhile, Asa and the butler, Binny, try to understand each other's unfamiliar ways, as Asa tries to understand what the purpose of a shower might be, dousing himself while fully clothed.

Act II.

Mrs. Mountchessington is staying at Trenchard Manor. She advises Augusta, her daughter, to be attentive to the presumably wealthy Vermont "savage". Meanwhile, her other daughter Georgina is courting an imbecilic nobleman named Dundreary by pretending to be ill. Florence's old tutor, the unhappy alcoholic Abel Murcott, warns her that Coyle intends to marry her. Asa overhears this and offers Florence his help. Murcott is Coyle's clerk and has found proof that Florence's late grandfather paid off the loan to Coyle.  Florence and Asa visit her cousin, Mary Meredith. Mary is the granddaughter of old Mark Trenchard, who left his estate to Asa. Mary is very poor and has been raised as a humble dairy maid. Asa does not care about her social status and is attracted to her. Florence has not been able to bring herself to tell Mary that her grandfather's fortune had been left to Asa. Florence tells Asa that she loves Harry, who needs a good assignment to a ship. Asa uses his country wile to persuade Dundreary to help Harry get a ship. Meanwhile, Coyle has been up to no good, and the bailiffs arrive at Trenchard Manor.

Act III.

At her dairy farm, Asa tells Mary about her grandfather in America, but he fibs about the end of the tale: He says that old Mark Trenchard changed his mind about disinheriting his English children and burned his will. Asa promptly burns the will himself. Florence discovers this and points it out to Mary, saying: "It means that he is a true hero, and he loves you, you little rogue." Meanwhile, Mrs. Mountchessington still hopes that Asa will propose to Augusta. When Asa tells them that Mark Trenchard had left Mary his fortune, Augusta and Mrs. Mountchessington are quite rude, but Asa stands up for himself.  Asa proposes to Mary and is happily accepted. He then sneaks into Coyle's office with Murcott and retrieves the paper that shows that the debt was paid. Asa confronts Coyle and insists that Coyle must pay off Sir Edward's other debts, with his doubtless ill-gotten gains, and also apologize to Florence for trying to force her into marriage. He also demands Coyle's resignation as the steward of Trenchard Manor, making Murcott steward instead. Murcott is so pleased that he vows to stop drinking. Coyle has no choice but to do all this. Florence marries Harry, Dundreary marries Georgina, and Augusta marries an old beau. Even the servants marry.

Lincoln assassination.

The play's most famous performance was at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14, 1865. The cast modified a line of the play in honor of Abraham Lincoln: when the heroine asked for a seat protected from the draft, the replyscripted as, "Well, you're not the only one that wants to escape the draft"was delivered instead as, "The draft has already been stopped by order of the President!" Halfway through Act III, Scene 2, the character of Asa Trenchard, played that night by Harry Hawk, utters this line, considered one of the play's funniest, to Mrs. Mountchessington:  During the ensuing laughter, John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer who was not a member of the play's cast, fatally shot Lincoln in the back of the head. Familiar with the play, Booth had chosen that moment in the hope that the audience's laughter would mask the sound of his gunshot. Booth then leapt from Lincoln's box onto the stage and made his escape through the back of the theater to a horse he had left waiting in the alley. That night, the remainder of the play was suspended.

Popular culture.

In 1862 Charles Kingsley wrote a parody, the "Great Hippocampus Question", in the style of Lord Dundreary, and incorporated parts of this in "The Water-Babies" published in 1863.  In the 1950 film "All About Eve", Bill Sampson says to Margo Channing, "I've always denied the legend that you were in 'Our American Cousin' the night Lincoln was shot." "Our American Cousin" was adapted for the radio anthology program "On Stage" in 1953. In a move that earned him a rebuke from CBS management, director, producer, and actor Elliott Lewis aired it in the same hour as his show "Crime Classics"' episode "The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln".  In a brief scene in the 2000 film "Bedazzled", Elliot becomes President Lincoln at the theater, recognizes the name of the play, realizes he is about to be murdered, and tries to leave. As an excuse, he says that he has already seen the play, but is informed that is impossible, because it is "an entirely new play." In reality, the play was six and a half years old at the time of the assassination.  Eric W. Sawyer's 2008 opera "Our American Cousin" presents a fictionalized version of the night of Lincoln's assassination from the point of view of the actors in the cast of Taylor's play.  In the 2019 film "", when Lincoln is falling to the black hole he says that he has tickets to the theater referencing his death.

Our American Cousin is a three-act play by English playwright Tom Taylor. The play is a farce whose plot is based on the introduction of an awkward, boorish, but honest American, Asa Trenchard, to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family estate. The play premiered with great success at Laura Keene's Theatre in New York City in 1858, with Keene in the cast, the title character played by Joseph Jefferson and Edward Askew Sothern, playing Lord Dundreary, who eventually parlayed this supporting role into a leading one. The play's long-running 1861 London production was another decided hit.


History.

When Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853, using naval pressure to open up Japan to foreign trade, Yokosuka was a quaint, native fishing village. In 1860, Lord Oguri Kozuke-no-Suke, Minister of Finance to the Tokugawa Shogunate Government, decided that "If Japan is to assume an active role in world trade, she must have proper facilities to build and maintain large seagoing vessels." He called upon the French Consul General, Léon Roches, and asked for the assistance of the French government to build a shipyard and various basing facilities capable of handling large ships. French engineer Léonce Verny was sent to Japan to accomplish the task.  After the inspection of several sites, it was discovered that Yokosuka topographically, if on a smaller scale, resembled the port of Toulon, France. It was decided to establish the shipyard here. It would be called the "Yokosuka Iron Works". In 1871, the name was changed to the "Yokosuka Navy Yard". It was French engineer Louis-Émile Bertin who reorganized "Yokosuka Navy Yard" completely from 1886.  Yokosuka was to become one of the main arsenals of the Imperial Japanese Navy into the 20th century. Battleships such as "Yamashiro", and aircraft carriers such as "Hiryu" and "Shokaku" were built there. Major naval aircraft were also designed at the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal. In addition, numerous other facilities, including the headquarters of various naval units, administration buildings, military training schools, airfields, communication facilities, barracks, armories and a military hospital were established nearby in the course of its history, turning the area around the arsenal into a major fleet base.  During World War II, activities at the Yokosuka Navy Yard reached their peak. By 1944, it covered and employed over 40,000 workers. In addition to the shipbuilding plant, the yard also had a gun factory, ordnance and supply depots, a fuel storage facility, a seaplane base and a naval air station.

U.S. Navy base.

On 30 August 1945, Vice Admiral Michitaro Totsuka, last Japanese commander of the Yokosuka Naval District, surrendered his command to Rear Admiral Robert Carney, and the base was peacefully occupied by U.S. Marines of the 6th Marine Division, British Royal Marines and U.S. Naval personnel. Commander Fleet Activities (COMFLEACT) Yokosuka was created shortly after the occupation in 1945. As the Base became organized, the shipyard was deactivated and much of the equipment was sent to other countries as part of reparations. The repair ship took charge of ship repair and maintenance, the hospital became a Naval Dispensary (later Naval Hospital Yokosuka Japan) and the Supply Department was organized to provide support to the fleet and shore-based activities. The Public Works Department was also established.  The best known Commander of Fleet Activities was the one who served there the longest, Captain Benton W. "Benny" Decker, who was in charge from April 1946 until June 1950. When he assumed command, the base was fairly well-organized, and Captain Decker and his staff were able to devote their time to helping the townspeople economically, politically and socially. Buildings which had once housed war equipment were converted into schools, churches and hospitals for the people of Japan.  In May 1946, the Marines at Yokosuka were redesignated Marine Barracks, U.S. Fleet Activities, Yokosuka. In April 1947, the Ship Repair Department was organized, and the shops and dry docks were reactivated to maintain the ships of the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific. With the onset of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, Yokosuka Navy Base suddenly became very important and extremely busy.  The U.S., still an occupying power in Japan, turned its full efforts to the support of South Korea. The Navy Dispensary was enlarged and expanded and was commissioned a U.S. Naval Hospital in 1950. The Naval Communications Facility, Yokosuka, was commissioned in January 1951. In April 1951, the Ship Repair Department became a component command. It was redesignated the Ship Repair Facility. As the major naval ship repair facility in the Far East, the Yokosuka Facility assumed a vital role in maintenance and repair of the U.S. Seventh Fleet during both the Korean War and Vietnam War.  In March 1952, the geographical boundaries of Naval Forces Far East were changed to exclude the Philippines, Marianas, Bonin and Volcano Islands. In December 1952, the headquarters were shifted from Tokyo to Yokosuka. The expanded Supply Department of Fleet Activities became Naval Supply Depot, Yokosuka in August 1952. In 1960, the Naval Communications Facility was redesignated U.S. Naval Communications Station, Japan.  In 1952, Japan was allowed to start rearmament, with its naval forces formally organized as Japan Maritime Self Defense Force by 1954. Some parts of the former Yokosuka Naval District were ceded back to house a new base for JMSDF.  On 5 October 1973,, with Carrier Air Wing Five and her accompanying task group, put into Yokosuka, marking the first forward deployment of a complete carrier task group in a Japanese port. This was the result of an accord reached on 31 August 1972 between the U.S. and Japan. In addition to the morale factor of dependents housed along with the crew in a foreign port, the move had strategic significance because it facilitated the continuous positioning of three carriers in the Far East at a time when the economic situation demanded the reduction of carriers in the fleet. In August 1991, "Midway" departed Yokosuka and was replaced by as the forward-deployed carrier in Yokosuka. In August 1998, relieved "Independence" as the 7th Fleet forward-based carrier.  On 1 December 2005, the U.S. Navy announced that in 2008 "Kitty Hawk" would be replaced by the nuclear-powered. A U.S. Navy spokesman said the decision was a mutual agreement between the United States and Japan. Hiroyuki Hosoda, spokesman for Japan's government, said, "We believe that the change (of the carriers) will lead to maintaining the solid presence of the U.S. Navy and contribute to keeping Japan's security and international peace into the future." On 25 September 2008, "George Washington" arrived in Yokosuka, making it the only forward-deployed, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy.  In recent years, a number of high-profile international incidents involving U.S. sailors occurred around the base. The most notable were two murders which occurred in 2006 and 2008. The first was committed by Airman William Oliver Reese, who beat to death 56-year-old Yokosuka woman Yoshie Sato and stole the equivalent of $130 from her purse. The second murder was committed by Seaman Olantunbosun Ugbogu, a Nigerian citizen who had joined the U.S. Navy, but had not yet received citizenship. Ugbogu stabbed a taxi driver to death in order to avoid paying a $200 fare, which he had incurred returning from Tokyo. He had been stationed aboard the guided missile cruiser, but was absent without leave at the time of the murder and considered a deserter. Both murders resulted in the U.S. Navy severely restricting the liberty of all sailors in the fleet.  Personnel and ships from the base assisted with Operation Tomodachi following and during the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima I nuclear accidents. During the crisis, around 3,000 U.S. family members left the base, preferring to be outside Japan during a time of uncertainty.

Forward-deployed ships.

Destroyers.

Destroyer Squadron 15 (COMDESRON 15)

Landmarks.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, the Yokosuka Microwave Communications Site was part of the telephone communications network in the Tokyo area. The building and 106.7 meter tall microwave tower was on the highest hill on the U.S. Navy base.  Komatsu, a historic restaurant near the naval base, became famous for serving Japanese navy personnel before 1945 and the U.S. Navy after. However, it was destroyed by fire in 2016.

Fleet Activities Yokosuka comprises 2.3 km2 (568 acres) and is located at the entrance of Tokyo Bay, 65 km (40 mi) south of Tokyo and approximately 30 km (20 mi) south of Yokohama on the Miura Peninsula in the Kantō region of the Pacific Coast in Central Honshū, Japan.


Russian coast defense ship Admiral Seniavin

In Russian service.

Initially assigned to the Russian Baltic Fleet, she was later reclassed as a coastal defence ship.  The three obsolete "Ushakov"s (,, and "Admiral Senyavin") were rejected for inclusion in the Second Pacific Squadron assembled by Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky to reinforce the existing Russian squadron based at Port Arthur after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War as Rozhestvensky felt they were unsuitable for such an extreme blue-water operation. Nevertheless, all three were selected to form part of Admiral Nebogatov's Third Pacific Squadron which was subsequently sent out to reinforce Rozhestvensky on his journey to the Far East after political agitation following his departure. This Third Pacific Squadron transited the Suez Canal and the two Russian squadrons rendezvoused at Cam Ranh Bay after a cruise that became known as the "Voyage of the Damned", and from there Rozhestvensky set course through the South China Sea towards the Korea Strait, where they were discovered by the Japanese.  At the resulting Battle of Tsushima (27–28 May 1905), the three ships survived the first phase of the engagement on the evening of 27 May largely due to the Japanese concentrating their efforts on Rozhestvensky's modern battleships (concentrated in the First and Second Divisions of the Russian squadron) and their subsequent almost-total destruction left the Russian fleet in tatters. Nebogatov's Third Division was largely able to keep itself together during the night, although "Admiral Seniavin"s sister ship "Admiral Ushakov" strayed from formation and was sunk by the Japanese. The morning of 28 May found the Russian survivors surrounded by an apparently undamaged Japanese force, and Nebogatov surrendered. Thus "Admiral Seniavin" and "General Admiral Graf Apraksin" were captured as prizes of war.

Japanese service.

"General Admiral Graf Apraxin" was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy under the name "Okinoshima" and "Admiral Seniavin" became the second-class coastal defense vessel "Mishima". "Mishima" was named for the small island of Mishima, offshore from Hagi in Yamaguchi prefecture, not far from the location of the Battle of Tsushima. "Mishima" retained her original four 10-inch 45 caliber guns, six 6-inch 40 caliber Armstrong Z guns and two 47 mm guns.  "Mishima" was part of the Japanese Second Fleet in World War I, participating in the Battle of Tsingtao against the small number of Imperial German Navy ships left behind by Admiral von Spee's East Asia Squadron".  After the end of the war, "Mishima" supported the Japanese Siberian Intervention against the Bolshevik Red Army in eastern Russia by covering the landings of Japanese forces, and by acting as an icebreaker to keep the sea lanes between Japan and Vladivostok open.  On 1 April 1921, "Mishima" was re-classified as a submarine tender.  "Mishima" was decommissioned on 10 October 1935. She was expended as a gunnery target and sunk in September 1936 off Kushima, Miyazaki.

Admiral Seniavin (), was a built for Imperial Russian Navy during the 1890s. She was one of eight Russian pre-dreadnought battleships captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy from the Russians during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. She subsequently served in the Japanese Navy under the name until sunk as a target in 1936.


Biography and career.

Early life and education.

Debbie Joy Voigt was born into a religious Southern Baptist family in 1960 and raised in Wheeling, Illinois, just outside Chicago. At the age of five, she joined the choir at a Baptist church and began learning the piano. Her mother sang and played piano at church while her two younger brothers sang in rock music bands. Those early experiences in church inspired her interest in music. When she was 14, her family moved to Placentia in Orange County, California. It was traumatic to Voigt, then in her teens, to adjust to Southern California, "land of endless sunshine and impossibly perfect bodies."  She attended El Dorado High School, where she was a member of El Dorado's Vocal Music and Theater programs, starring in musicals including "Fiddler on the Roof", "The Music Man" and "Mame". At that time, Voigt recalled in an interview, she did not seriously consider becoming an opera singer and was unaware of the existence of the Metropolitan Opera. Upon graduation in 1978, she won a vocal scholarship funded by the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California so that she could enroll in the voice program at California State University, Fullerton, where she met the voice teacher Jane Paul Hummel, under whom she trained for about eight years. Voigt was the finalist of the Met National Council Auditions for Young Singers in 1985. She won awards from many prestigious singing competitions (see below) and made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1988. Named an Adler Fellow, she apprenticed at San Francisco Opera's Merola Program for two years, studying seven major roles. There, she also took a class from Leontyne Price, the internationally acclaimed, American soprano.

1990s to mid-2000s.

Voigt slowly but surely established her career, entering the professional opera world after winning several first prizes from music competitions. Her breakthrough role was Ariadne in Richard Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" at Boston Lyric Opera in January 1991. The performance was praised by noted arts critic John Rockwell in "The New York Times", who said "it introduced one truly remarkable singer in Deborah Voigt." He predicted that she would soon become an important Wagnerian soprano comparable to American soprano Eileen Farrell. "Ariadne" first brought her to public notice and international success and remains one of her greatest achievements. Later she often refers to her operatic career jokingly as "Ariadne Inc."  When Voigt made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on October 17, 1991, in the lead role of Amelia in Verdi's "Un ballo in maschera", critic Allan Kozinn stated that she had come to the Met with a big reputation. He noted that "Voigt's deep, mezzolike darkness brought impressive range of color to Amelia's music". He also commented on how well she conveyed Amelia's feeling of urgency and despair in the second act soliloquy, sung with a warm and golden tone. Although Kozinn criticized her acting, which did not match her singing, he emphasized that she did not lose any clarity or smoothness in her big voice. In March 1992, Voigt returned to the Met to sing as Chrysothemis in Strauss' "Elektra".  In the same month, she won the coveted Richard Tucker Award from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. The prize for winning was to participate in the annual gala of the foundation held on November 22, 1992, at Avery Fisher Hall. Critic Bernard Holland noted that her "Ozean, du Ungeheuer", a long sequence from Weber's "Oberon", brightened the mood and elevated the gala. He complimented her performance as "the Tucker gala's most satisfying". Her big, beautiful soprano was not only agreeable to the ear, but also showed splendid evenness and developed emotion. Two months later Holland, reviewing her substitution for Aprile Millo at the Met, said that her attractive singing in the opening sequence as Leonora in Verdi's "Il trovatore", "reached out and settled comfortably in every corner of this big hall." However, he pointed out that she did not fully immerse herself in the passion of the heroine.  In May 2003, she sang and recorded (for DG) the role of Isolde at the Vienna State Opera.  Since then she has regularly appeared at the Met and at other major opera houses around the world such as San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Opéra Bastille in Paris.

2004: The "little black dress".

In 2004, Voigt was removed from the role of Ariadne at the Royal Opera House when she could not fit into one of the costumes, a "little black dress." The casting director, Peter Mario Katona, wanted her to wear it instead of the typical period costume used in such operas, letting out the dress with tailoring, or replacing it with another costume. She was replaced by Anne Schwanewilms, a German singer of slimmer appearance. She was "very angry" about the incident, but kept silent about it for several months. When the decision became public, the Royal Opera House received significant criticism in the media. It was pointed out that many notable sopranos, such as the Italian Luisa Tetrazzini, American Jessye Norman and English Jane Eaglen, had been "large-boned, zaftig, even the enormous", and Voigt had merely "followed in their heavy footsteps."  The decision was also criticized because of the popular stereotype that female opera singers have to be heavy anyway in order to do a good job. There is the old expression that "in opera, great voices often come in large packages" and the well-worn saying about opera that "It ain't over till the fat lady sings". She was headlined in the British tabloid press as "The show ain't over till the fat lady slims." There was also an outcry because, it seemed at the time, that high culture performing arts, such as opera, should not emulate low culture Hollywood images of thin female stars.  By a strange twist of fate, the incident may have helped her in the long run. Voigt had tried many well-known diets, such as Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, unsuccessfully over the years. Maestro Georg Solti, "who never minced words", had once expressed concern about her weight. She underwent three-hour gastric bypass surgery in June 2004, which she has discussed publicly. It is highly risky for any person, but especially for a singer, who depends on a strong thoracic diaphragm "to support the column of sound". The operation, performed at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, was successful. She lost over 100 pounds (7 stone), and went from a size 30 to size 14; but has kept her exact weight, both before and after the operation, private.  Voigt has said she went through the surgery not only because of the Royal Opera House but also because of her concern about health problems caused by the weight. In other interviews with "The New York Times" in 2005 and 2008, she said the fees that she was owed from the Royal Opera House paid in part for the surgery. Her concern was that the firing was done so cruelly. In several interviews over the past few years, she has expressed relief and delight in the weight loss.  Since her dramatic weight loss, Voigt has been rehired by the Royal Opera House for the role she was originally fired from in 2004. The public reaction was positive. Voigt said in 2005 that she felt "good will from fans and the public." She said in 2008 that she had "assumed" the "rapprochement" would not happen until they had new management.

2006 to 2008.

In April 2006, she performed her first "Tosca" at the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera; her first fully staged "Salome" at Lyric Opera of Chicago premiered in October of the same year. She performed Ariadne in Richard Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos" for the theatre during the 2007/08 season, to rave reviews.  In January 2006, she sang Broadway tunes and other popular songs at UCLA's Royce Hall. She performed a similar concert from "the American songbook" in January 2008 at Lincoln Center. This included tributes to Broadway sopranos Barbara Cook and Julie Andrews.  Although Voigt's Fach is that of the "dramatischer" soprano, she has recently—overlooking the 2003 Vienna performances as Isolde—made the transition into singing the "" soprano with her interpretation of Isolde from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde". She sang the role in the 2007/08 season at the Metropolitan Opera and in the 2008/09 season at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. During one of the performances at the Met, Voigt took ill and had to leave the stage. She returned at the next performance of "Tristan und Isolde" and finished the run to acclaim by most reviewers, including "The New York Times". However, some critics, including "The New York Sun", panned her performance.  On September 28, 2008, Voigt joined American soprano Patricia Racette and American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham in singing a comedic tribute to Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo. The three

2009 to 2010.

In May 2009, Voigt began mentoring a younger soprano, Christina Borgioli, in a new program that she has set up. Borgioli has "been selected as the first participant in the Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation's Protegee Mentoring Program." This will involve both voice and acting training, and a shadowing experience.  She was set to sing Strauss at the Aspen Music Festival's 60th anniversary concert on August 6, 2009 with David Zinman conducting.  Voigt's next planned formal opera engagement was in the title role of "Tosca" in September and October 2009, at the Lyric Opera in her home town of Chicago. Christina Borgioli, her mentee, will accompany Voigt in this production.  In February and March 2010, she was set to sing Ariadne in "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Zürich Opera House.  Voigt sang again with the Metropolitan Opera during the 2009/10 Season. She sang Chrysothemis in Richard Strauss's "Elektra" in December 2009, and Senta in "The Flying Dutchman" in April 2010, an "iconic Wagnerian role... for the first time on the Met stage." "The New York Times" review stated that she "brought steely power and lyrical elegance to her first Met Senta..."

"Alceste".

In May 2009, Voigt starred in the rarely heard 1776 opera "Alceste" by Christoph Willibald Gluck, in concert at Lincoln Center's Rose Theatre. She performed with the Collegiate Chorale and American tenor Vinson Cole, as King Admète, and the New York City Opera Orchestra." According to a "New York Times" preview, "The chance to hear Deborah Voigt in her first performance of the title role in Gluck's "Alceste" is clearly driving the ticket sales for the Collegiate Chorale's concert performance of this remarkable opera..." "Time Out" said that Voigt "already proved her affinity for similar material a few years back when she sang Cassandre in Berlioz's "Les Troyens" at the Met." The "France-Amérique" noted that Voigt and the chorus received French diction training for the performance from Thomas Grubb, a teacher at the Juilliard School.  Unfortunately, Voigt caught the flu when she was to perform, yet went on with the show; the photograph caption for the "New York Times" review was, "Deborah Voigt, even with the flu, led a Collegiate Chorale concert performance on Tuesday." The reviewer wrote, "she did some impressive work, singing with power, gleaming sound and sensitive phrasing, though she clearly struggled. Often her voice sounded congested and her top range tight... her voice nearly gave out, and she had to drop down an octave to get through a phrase." The review reserved judgment but noted that some fans were "disappointed." Another reviewer wrote, "One would like very much to hear Voigt undertake this dramatic role again when she is in peak form."

2010 to 2012.

In December 2010, Voigt returned to the Met as Minnie in the 100th anniversary production of the world premiere of Puccini's "La fanciulla del West". She reprised this rôle at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in January 2011 and at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège in February 2013.  In April 2011, Voigt sang her first Brünnhilde at the Metropolitan Opera in Canadian stage director Robert Lepage's new production of "Die Walküre", the second installment of the Met's highly publicized new production of Wagner's Ring Cycle directed by Lepage. She sang the role again as the cycle was presented in its entirety during the 2011/2012 season, adding to her repertoire the final two operas of the four opera cycle, "Siegfried" and "Götterdämmerung". She also appeared in a 2012 documentary film, "Wagner's Dream", about the "Ring" production.  In the summer of 2011, she sang the lead of Annie Oakley in the Irving Berlin musical "Annie Get Your Gun" at the Glimmerglass Festival. For that festival, Terrence McNally, Francesca Zambello, and Voigt collaborated to produce the stage show "Voigt Lessons". Voigt revived that show in 2015 at the Art House in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

2013 to 2015.

In September 2013, Voigt dropped out of a performance of "Tristan und Isolde" and considered removing Isolde from her repertoire due to having found "the long, punishing role beyond her current vocal capacities" as reported by "The New York Times". Her stage performances have dwindled since.  In 2015, HarperCollins published her autobiography "Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva".

Personal life.

, Voigt has been a New Yorker for about five years. Voigt was once married to her high school sweetheart, John Leitch. She said she relied on him and he worked for her career. However, they divorced in 1995 after seven years of marriage. As she was getting more famous, she traveled around the world with him. However, her crowded schedule and the accompanying stress eventually led to the couple's divorce.

Awards.

Voigt has received various awards for her artistic achievement since her debut as a singer. Voigt was the first prize winner of Philadelphia's Luciano Pavarotti Vocal Competition in 1988, the Verdi Competition in 1989, and won the gold prize for best female singer at the prestigious 1990 International Tchaikovsky Competition.  In March 1992, she won the Richard Tucker Award, the top award presented by the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, including a $30,000 cash award.  Voigt has been nominated for a Grammy Award several times and shared the 1996 "Best Opera Recording" award for the recording of Berlioz's "Les Troyens" directed by Charles Dutoit with Montreal Symphony Orchestra. She was also co-nominated in 2002 for "Best Choral Performance" on a Columbia Records recording. In 2013, she shared the "Best Opera Recording" award for the Metropolitan Opera's recording of Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen".  Voigt garnered "Musical America"'s Vocalist of the Year in 2003, and an "Opera News" award for distinguished achievement in 2007. She was honored as a Chevalier of "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" at the Opéra Bastille on 27 March 2002.  She was inducted into the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Hall of Fame in 1997.

Recordings.

Voigt has made a number of recordings which include two solo compact discs. She is on the live recording of the Vienna State Opera's production of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" for Deutsche Grammophon (2003). In a 2001 interview with Associated Press, however, Voigt expressed that she was unlucky with recording because of unexpected cancellations and postponements. The opportunities of cooperation with high profile musicians could have made her a major prima donna more quickly. She had a chance to work with Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti in a televised production of Verdi's "La forza del destino" in 1997. However, the performance did not take place since Pavarotti had not learned the role of Alvaro and another opera was substituted. Later the same year, Voigt was cast to sing for a new recording of "Tristan und Isolde" under the direction of Sir Georg Solti. Before it proceeded, Solti suddenly died of a heart attack.  In April 2001, The Metropolitan Opera intended to broadcast a taping of Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" in which Voigt sang the title role. However, it was put off until 2003, for co-star, French soprano Natalie Dessay. She felt frustration over the fact that every recording plan for "Ariadne" had been delayed or stopped for five years until late 2001. Finally, Voigt presented her Ariadne in a 2001 recording released by Deutsche Grammophon in which Natalie Dessay, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and Canadian tenor Ben Heppner co-starred, and Giuseppe Sinopoli conducted. Voigt said that if he had not participated in the project, she doubts she could have ever recorded "Ariadne". In the end, her long struggle paid off and turned out to have a bright side since the album was mentioned as one of the "Top Classical Recordings of 2001" according to the "New York Times".

Deborah Voigt (born August 4, 1960) is an American dramatic soprano who has sung roles in operas by Wagner and Richard Strauss.


History.

What is now Logan was initially called "Islands of the Guyandot" by explorers who identified the site in the 1780s. In 1827, a town was laid out at the site to serve as a county seat for Logan County, which had been established in 1824. The city was initially known as "Lawsonsville" after Anthony Lawson, an early merchant, but was shortened to "Lawnsville." In the early 1850s, Thomas Dunn English, a poet and future congressman, led efforts to reorganize the town. When the town incorporated in 1853, it was renamed "Aracoma" after the Shawnee chief Cornstalk's daughter, who had been killed by settlers in the area in 1780. The city was renamed "Logan" in 1907 after the Mingo leader, Chief Logan.  Logan grew continuously during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a hub of the regional coal industry. At its height in 1940, the city had a population of over 5,000, and was home to numerous businesses, including furniture stores, hotels, banks, and car dealerships. Logan began to decline following World War II, due in large part to the increased mechanization of the coal industry.  The Chafin House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Logan was home to the Logan Indians, a minor league baseball team, from 1937 to 1942.

Geography.

Logan is located at the confluence of the Guyandotte River and Island Creek.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Demographics.

2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,779 people, 808 households, and 469 families living in the city. The population density was. There were 1,016 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 91.6% White, 5.2% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.0% of the population.  There were 808 households of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were married couples living together, 15.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.0% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.85.  The median age in the city was 40.4 years. 20.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.3% were from 25 to 44; 28.1% were from 45 to 64; and 15.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.4% male and 52.6% female.

2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,630 people, 750 households, and 423 families living in the city. The population density was 1,403.5 people per square mile (542.5/km2). There were 965 housing units at an average density of 830.9 per square mile (321.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 92.52% White, 4.79% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 1.72% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.80% of the population.  There were 750 households out of which 20.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.6% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.08 and the average family size was 2.78.  In the city, the population was spread out with 16.8% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 21.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.1 males.  The median income for a household in the city was $22,623, and the median income for a family was $26,354. Males had a median income of $26,350 versus $19,167 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,913. About 18.2% of families and 20.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.0% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education.

Logan is served by Logan High School, grades 9-12.

Logan is a city in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 1,779 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Logan County.


Etymology.

The name of the town is officially "Addison", but the community is most often referred to by the name of its post office, "Webster Springs". It is also labeled on some maps as "Addison", and some as "Webster Springs". The unofficial name has gone so far that the county commission's letterhead reads "Webster Springs," rather than "Addison", which it had previously.  Other names for the town have included Elk Lick and Fork Lick.

History.

The town's first permanent settlers were named William and Polly, (maiden name, "Friend"), Arthur, who arrived in 1860. The first post office established in Webster County was Fort Lick, present-day Webster Springs. The postmaster at the time was a man by the name of John Hall. It is also the county seat of Webster County  The Morton House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Salt sulfur wells.

Hall, along with a man whose first name is not known, who is only known as Mr. Skidmore, drilled the first salt sulfur well in the county, it was known as "Old Spring." The well was later owned by Colonel John T. McGraw. The salt sulfur well helped make Webster Springs a popular summer tourist location during the 19th and early 20th Century.  According to "Springs in West Virginia", Webster Springs had a total of four springs: the Addison McLaughlin Well, located to the west of Court Square on the present site of the Mineral Springs Motel; Old Fork Lick Spring, located in the bed of the Elk River; Tracy Well, located on the lot of its owner, W.B. Tracy, in Webster Springs; and the William Smith Well, located in Dorrtown. The wells were popular because people believed that the water from the wells had medicinal qualities. The water was used to treat skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, acne and arthritis.

Webster Springs Hotel.

In 1897, Senator Johnson Newlon Camden had built a 265-room hotel of Victorian style architecture, which was larger than The Greenbrier Hotel built in 1913, which only has 250 rooms, named the Webster Springs Hotel. The hotel contained a tennis court, horse stables, garden, bowling alley, power plant, and Russian and Turkish baths, where visitors could enjoy the "medicinal" qualities of its salt sulfur waters. The hotel was also the largest wood frame hotel in West Virginia.  When first built, the hotel was a three-story dark colored building. After it was completed, construction began on a new, much larger section of the hotel, adding more rooms, and a new exterior color, white. The new section of the hotel contained up-to-date Turkish bath equipment, where guests could have a sulfur water bath. For many years, filled to capacity by guests and a greatly increased overflow which necessitated the building of smaller hotels in the town. The hotel also raised its own cattle and provided some of its own food and milk. The hotel's ice house, according to "Elizah Hedding Gillespie, His Ancestors, Descendants and Their Families", was capable of holding 150 tons of ice. The hotel was heated by steam.  In 1903, Colonel McGraw purchased the hotel and expanded it by 115 rooms, completed in the spring of 1904. Of the 89 "non-guest" rooms in the new section, 40 were for salt sulfur baths, which took up the entire first floor of one wing. The entire southern wing of the hotel was given to bath rooms, including; "the plunge," Turkish, Russian, Needle, Shower, and Steam baths. Of which they were offered in both fresh and salt-sulfur water.  On the interior, it contained stuffed bears, elks, and other wildlife of the local county in realistic poses.  At the height of its popularity, the hotel played host to such guests as Senators Thomas Kearns (Utah), Henry G. Davis (West Virginia), his son-in-law, Senator Stephen Benton Elkins (West Virginia), and Camden (West Virginia).  On the night of July 20, 1925, the hotel caught fire and was burned to the ground, being completely destroyed. Flames could be seen as far as one mile away, as well, the sky was seen as a bright red color, up to 19 miles away, in Camden-on-Gauley.

Geography.

Webster Springs is located at (38.476192, -80.410025), along the Elk River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which, is land and is water. It is at an elevation of 1,460 ft. (445m). It is close to Buffalo Bull Knob, elevation 2,799 ft.

Climate.

The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Webster Springs has a marine west coast climate, abbreviated "Cfb" on climate maps.

Demographics.

2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 808 people, 403 households, and 222 families living in the town. The population density was 1,729.9 inhabitants per square mile (663.8/km2). There were 463 housing units at an average density of 991.3 per square mile (380.4/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 99.75% White, 0.12% Native American, and 0.12% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.  There were 403 households, out of which 22.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 42.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.70.  In the town, the population was spread out, with 19.9% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.8 males.  The median income for a household in the town was $20,592, and the median income for a family was $27,434. Males had a median income of $27,386 versus $16,389 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,500. About 22.0% of families and 28.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.2% of those under age 18 and 21.9% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 776 people, 363 households, and 211 families living in the town. The population density was. There were 447 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the town was 99.2% White, 0.1% African American, 0.1% Native American, and 0.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.3% of the population.  There were 363 households, of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.9% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.77.  The median age in the town was 45.3 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.3% were from 25 to 44; 32% were from 45 to 64; and 18% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.8% male and 52.2% female.

Addison, commonly known as Webster Springs, is a town in Webster County, West Virginia, United States. Although it was incorporated as Addison in 1892, it is more frequently referred to as Webster Springs, the name of the town's post office. It was named for Addison McLaughlin, upon whose land the town was originally laid out. The population was 776 at the 2010 census.


Family origins.

Diego López was the son of Diego López III de Haro and his wife, Constanza de Bearne. He eventually inherited the title of Lord of Biscay from his father after his sister and the usurper to the title, John of Castile. His paternal grandparents were Lope Díaz II de Haro, Lord of Biscay, and his wife, Urraca Alfonso de León, the illegitimate daughter of Alfonso IX of León. His maternal grandparents were Guillermo II de Bearne, the Viscount of Bearne, and his wife, Garsenda of Provence.  Amongst his siblings were Lope Díaz III de Haro, Lord of Biscay, Teresa de Haro, wife of Juan Núñez I de Lara, head of the House of Lara, and of Sancha Díaz de Haro. He was the great grandson of the king, Alfonso IX of León.

Biography.

During the youth of Fernando IV de Castilla (1295–1301).

Diego López' exact date of birth is unknown, but it most likely occurred sometime around the year 1250. In 1282, he married the infanta Violant of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso X of Castile.  On 25 April, 1295, after the death of King Sancho IV of Castile (who the Haro family had fought to overthrow), Diego López took advantage of the instability in the court of the young King Ferdinand IV of Castile and took power over the Lordship of Biscay which rightfully belonged to his sister, María II Díaz de Haro.  The incessant fighting against the Castilian crown, led primarily by the following infantes; John of Castile, an enemy of the Haro family who claimed the throne as the heir to his brother, Sancho IV of Castile, Infante Henry of Castile, son of Ferdinand III of Castile and uncle of the young king Ferdinand IV, who claimed guardianship over the king. This was exacerbated by the claims of the infantes of Cerda, Ferdinand de la Cerda and Alfonso de la Cerda, who were supported by France, Aragón, and their grandmother, Queen Violant of Aragon, widow of Alfonso X of Castile. Still further, problems also arose with the Kingdom of Aragon, Portugal, and France, who all tried to take advantage of the instability that plagued the contemporary Kingdom of Castile. Finally, internal Castilian players such as Diego López V de Haro, Nuño González de Lara, and Juan Núñez II de Lara, amongst others, sowed confusion and anarchy throughout the kingdom.  During the summer of 1295, after the Cortes of Valladolid of the same year, Diego López was confirmed in his illegitimate possession of the Lordship over Biscay, turned over by the pretender to both Biscay and the Castilian throne, infante John of Castile. During this time, John also temporarily accepted Ferdinand IV as his sovereign and he regained his previous possessions and titles.  On 15 June, 1300, Diego López V de Haro converted the fishing village of Bilbao into a town under the authority of the Lords of Biscay.  During the Cortes of Valladolid in 1300, the infante John of Castile officially renounced his pretendership to the throne despite being proclaimed king of León in 1296. He took an oath of fealty ti Ferdinand IV and his successors on 26 June 1300. The same year, María II Díaz de Haro together with her husband (the same infante Juan), as compensation for renouncing her claim over the Lordship of Biscay, received title over Mansilla, Paredes de Nava, Medina de Rioseco, Castronuño, and Cabreros. A short while later, Maria de Molina, and the infantes Henry and John, accompanied by Diego López V de Haro, laid siege to Almazán, but lifted the siege due to opposition from the infante Henry.

During the adolescence of Fernando IV de Castilla (1301–1310).

In November 1301, Diego López was in the court of the city of Burgos when the papal bull of Pope Boniface VIII made public the marriage of María de Molina (mother of Ferdinand IV) and the dead Sancho IV of Castile. This recognition by the pope, coupled with the coming of age of Ferdinand IV of Castile instantly made the claims to the throne of John of Castile, Henry of Castile, Alfonso de la Cerda, and Ferdinand de la Cerda much less plausible as they had thereby lost one of their principal claims to the throne. Going forward, the crown of Castile and León was much more secure.  The infante Henry, upset over the legitimization of Ferdinand IV by the pope, forged an alliance against the head of the House of Lara, Juan Núñez II de Lara in an effort to alienate Ferdinand IV from his mother, María de Molina. The likewise embittered magnate, John of Castile started his own faction together with Juan Núñez II de Lara in an effort to reclaim the Lordship of Biscay for his wife, María II Díaz de Haro. Later in 1301, the king placated Henry with titles over Atienza and San Esteban de Gormaz as compensation.  In 1302, the rivalry between these two factions became clear with infante Henry, Maria de Molina and Diego Lopez on one side and the infante John of Castile and Juan Núñez II de Lara on the other. The infante Henry threatened the Queen with a declaration of war against her and Ferdinand IV if she did not acquiesce to his demands. This coincided with a fall from grace of Maria de Molina as the contemporary magnates attempted to lessen the grip of power she had maintained over the king. In the final months of 1302, the queen was in Valladolid where she agreed to placate the members of the nobility who threatened her with war against King Ferdinand IV who spent Christmas with John of Castile and Juan Núñez II de Lara in the Kingdom of Leon.  In 1303, there was a meeting between the King Denis of Portugal and Ferdinand IV where in Ferdinand obtained the return of various territories. The split between the two aforementioned factions continued. In May of that year, celebrations over the success of the meeting (which neither Diego Lopez, Maria de Molina, or Henry of Castile participated in) were held in Badajoz. Further agreement was reached by Ferdinand IV and Denis of Portugal to obtain Portugal's assistance against the opposing faction. Diego Lopez' faction met in Roa with Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena, giving the latter orders to travel to the Kingdom of Aragon and to enlist his support against Ferdinand IV. The group agreed to reunite on the Day of John the Baptist in the municipality of Ariza. Henry of Castile later conveyed this message to Maria de Molina who was in Valladolid at the time. Henry's plan was for Alfonso de la Cerda to become King of Leon, marrying the infanta Isabel de Castilla y de Molina, daughter of Maria de Molina and sister of Ferdinand IV. At the same time, the infante Pedro de Castilla y Molina, brother of Ferdinand IV, was to be named the King of Castile, marrying one of the daughters of James II of Aragon. Henry claimed that his intention was to foster peace in the kingdom and eliminate the influence of the infante John of Castile and that of Juan Núñez II de Lara.  This plan, which proposed the breakup of the Kingdoms of Castile and León and the forced or obliged resignation of Fernando IV, was rejected by the queen Maria de Molina who refused to meet the rebel faction in Ariza. At the same time, the queen was asked by King Ferdinand IV to help foster a peace between him and the rebel faction. The queen traveled to Ariza where instead of supporting the rebel cause, she pleaded with the group to remember their oaths of fealty to the king and to return to his service causing many of the rebels to abandon the cause of infante Henry and Diego Lopez. This move, which weeded out many of the more moderate rebels, served only to cement the hardline base who vowed to wage war against the king, demanding further that the Kingdoms of Murcia and Jaén be turned over to Alfonso de la Cerda. It was during this time that the infante Henry of Castile became deathly ill and retired to his villa at Roa. Fearing that Henry's possessions would revert to Diego Lopez and Juan Manuel upon his death as was his wish, the queen plotted with Henry's confessor to convince him to leave all his possessions to the crown. This move inevitably failed and Diego Lopez, together with Juan Manuel inherited all his possessions when Henry died on 8 August 1303. He was sepulchered at the now destroyed Monasterio de San Francisco de Valladolid.  In November 1303, the king asked the queen for her support in an effort to end the infighting between infante John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos and Diego Lopez for control over the Lordship of Biscay which at this time was under the full control of Diego Lopez. The queen agreed to help her son and the relationship of mother and son was restored when she succeeded in reaching an agreement with the infante John.  In winter of 1304, the king was in the area of Carrión de los Condes when the infante John once again claimed for his wife the lordship of Biscay together with the continued support of Juan Núñez II de Lara. The king attempted to offer her title over Paredes de Nava and Villalón de Campos as compensation, but this was refused by the infante John. The king then drafted a lopsided deal where Diego Lopez V would turn over his titles over Tordehumos, Íscar and Santa Olalla. He would also be made to give up his possessions in Cuéllar, Córdoba, Murcia, Valdetorio, and his title as Señorío de Valdecorneja. In return for this, Diego would be able to keep Lordship of Biscay, Orduña-Urduña, Balmaseda, las Encartaciones, and Durango. Understandably, the infante John accepted these terms and the king called Diego Lopez to Carrión de los Condes to cement the deal. Not surprisingly, Diego Lopez V refused these demands and threatened an all out rebellion against his rule.  The king, who was at the time preparing for the Treaty of Torrellas, from which Diego Lopez was excluded, promised the infante John that he would receive Biscay after all and that Juan Núñez II de Lara would get La Bureba. He further stated that both could divvy up the territories currently belonging to Diego Lopez in La Rioja if the two could resolve the diplomatic crisis that was ongoing with Aragon.  In April 1304, the infante John commenced negotiations with the Kingdom of Aragon to resolve demands made by Alfonso de la Cerda and disputes held by the Aragon. In the meantime, the king confiscated the territories of Diego Lopez V and of Juan Alfonso de Haro, Señor de los Cameros and divided them up amongst his supporters. After this bold move, many of the rebels came back under the fold of the king.  In winter of 1305, Diego Lopez once again refused the kings demands that he hand over Biscay at Guadalajara.

Fighting over possession over the Lordship of Biscay (1305–1307).

In 1305, Diego Lopez V was called to present himself in the courts of Medina del Campo which took place that year, to respond to the demands of the king.  At the court, María II Díaz de Haro, Diego's niece and wife of the infante John, demanded the return of her rightful property, the title of Lord of Biscay, a title which Diego had taken in the unrest that surrounded King Ferdinand IV of Castile's younger days on the throne. While the infante John and Maria were presenting their case to the court, Diego Lopez, together with three hundred of his knights arrived at the court and Diego Lopez announced his refusal to give up his title, citing a deal struck in the year 1300 where his niece had renounced her claim. Diego Lopez V left the court without waiting for its final decision and began drafting a proposal soliciting aid from the pope.  It was around this time that Diego Lopez forged a new alliance with Juan Núñez II de Lara who had gotten into disputes with the infante John. Seeing himself in a losing position, the infante John signed a two-year truce with Diego Lopez as he assumed the new alliance between Diego Lopez and the House of Lara would not hold. Trouble came quickly to this relationship as Lope Díaz IV de Haro, Diego Lopez' son and heir entered into a dispute with Juan Núñez II de Lara and he attempted to get his father to accept the kings deal. The same year, Ferdinand IV gave Lope Diaz IV the charge of Mayordomo Mayor of the king. The king called for a meeting with Diego Lopez V, to which Diego Lopez brought along Juan Núñez II in an effort to reconcile the latter with the king, while the king maneuvered to split the powerful duo. The king failed in his efforts and the two rebels left without notifying the king. At the same time, ambassadors from France arrived to solicit an alliance with the kingdom through marriage of Ferdinand IV's sister, the infanta Isabella..  In April 1306, the infante John, against the advice of Maria de Molina, induced the king to declare war officially against Juan Núñez II de Lara in the knowledge that Diego Lopez would support his ally.  The forces of the king laid siege to Aranda de Duero where Juan Nunez was at the time. Juan immediately broke his oath of vassal to the king. After a series of skirmishes, Juan Nunez managed to escape from the siege while pretending to surrender the city. He moved from there to meet with Diego Lopez and his son, Lope Diaz IV where the three promised to wage war against the king in their respective territories. As most of the kings vassals were unsupportive of the war, costs spiraled as they demanded war preparation funds and made little effort to use the money effectively. The king ordered for the infante John to enter into negotiations with Diego Lopez V, something he agreed to without issue as his vassals were equally unsupportive of the war. The two sent the queen, Maria de Molina to negotiate a peace. Negotiations with the rebels were hosted by Alonso Pérez de Guzmán in the town of Pancorbo. Negotiations with Diego Lopez quickly broke down and he again decided to continue to appeal to the pope.  At the beginning of 1307, while the king, Maria de Molina and the infante John were in Valladolid, they heard news that Pope Clement V renounced the validity of the renunciation over Biscay of 1300. The king drafted a new agreement whereby Diego Lopez V would keep Biscay during the course of his life, but it would revert to Maria II of Haro upon his death and would not go to his son, Lope Diaz IV who would instead inherit Orduña-Urduña and Balmaseda, and get Miranda de Ebro and Villalba de Losa from the king. The group convened on the court of Vallalodid to reach a final agreement.  Before the agreement over Biscay was finally reached, Juan Nunez II de Lara left the courts feeling betrayed by the king and his mother. For this reason, the king granted Diego Lopez V the title of Mayordomo Mayor of the king, a move which in turn upset the infante John enough to leave the courts, warning the king that he would no longer be of service to him until the wardens of Diego Lopez' castles paid tribute to his wife (upon Diego Lopez' death according to the agreement). Regardless, the group met again in Lerma where it was agreed that the castles that would go to María II Díaz de Haro would begin to pay her tribute, whilst the castles going to Lope Díaz IV de Haro would do the same for him.  With the reconciliation of Diego Lopez V and of the infante John, the king demanded that Juan Núñez II de Lara leave the Kingdom of Castile and for him to return the castles of Cuenca and Cañete located in the Province of Cuenca that the king had earlier given to him. The king proceeded to Tordehumos in October 1307 where he began to siege the city together with the infante John, his son, Alfonso de Valencia, and the Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, Juan Osórez. It was around the same time that the king also received a papal order to take all the possessions of the Knights Templar into his possession. Added to other complications, King Ferdinand IV decided to reach a peace treaty with Juan Núñez II de Lara where Lara agreed to turn all his territories over to the king minus those in La Bureba and La Rioja.  After the siege and the peace agreement, many nobles, sensing an opportunity to grab power, attempted to create new friction between Lara, the infante John and the king. Convinced that the king wanted them both dead, Juan Nunez II and the infante Juan forged a new alliance together without attempting to reach out to Diego Lopez V. Despite assurances from the king to the contrary, this edgy conflict bubbled until 1309 when the king called a conference at the courts of Madrid (the first of its kind actually held in the capital).  Present at this conference were all the major players left alive from the previous infighting. The king announced his intention to wage war against the Kingdom of Granada due to growing pressure to expand from his nobles.

The Conquest of Gibraltar and the Siege of Algeciras (1309).

Amongst the nobles that took part in the action were a majority of the nobles from the previous civil strife from both sides. These included Diego Lopez V de Haro, the infante John of Castile, Juan Núñez II de Lara, Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, Fernán Ruiz de Saldaña, Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena and many other magnates from Castile. The Castilian forces were made up of the militias of the towns of Salamanca, Segovia, Seville, and many other cities. King Denis of Portugal also sent 700 knights under Martín Gil de Sousa, Alférez of the king of Portugal. Furthermore, a great deal of knights from the orders of Santiago Calatrava were also present. Pope Clement V granted King Ferdinand IV a tenth of all taxes and rents collected by the church for a period of three years. This edict was passed by papal bull on 28 April 1309 from the city of Avignon. King Ferdinand IV of Castile set up his headquarters in the city of Seville where emissaries of king James II of Aragon announced their readiness to commence operations against the city of Almería. Ferdinand IV in turn decided to lay siege to the city of Algeciras which had been the main Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula for many years. Diego Lopez, amongst others opposed this plan and advocated unsuccessfully for an attack on Gibraltar. This was possibly due in part to the fact that the city had been unsuccessfully besieged in the past, most notably at the Siege of Algeciras (1278). Nevertheless, the Castilian-Leonese army gathered in the city and was transferred over the Guadalquivir River towards Algeciras.  The vanguard of Ferdinand's army reached the city walls on 27 July 1309, followed three days later by the last of the Christian forces which included the king Ferdinand and his entourage. The other prong of attack led by James II of Aragon began its siege of Almería on 15 August of the same year. With the siege of Algeciras ongoing, Gibraltar fell to the forces of Ferdinand under the control of Juan Núñez II de Lara, Archbishop of Seville, Fernando Gutiérrez Tello and the Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava on 12 September 1309.  In mid October 1309, the infante John of Castile, his son, Alfonso, Juan Manual, and Fernán Ruiz de Saldaña deserted the Castilian encampment at Algeciras together with about fifty other knights. The action, which was due in part because Ferdinand IV owed them a great deal of money, provoked the indignation of the European monarchs and the protest of James II of Aragon who tried to persuade the deserters unsuccessfully to return to Algeciras. Nevertheless, King Ferdinand IV maintained the support of Juan Núñez II de Lara and of Diego Lopez de Haro and continued to try and take the city.  Disease and generally poor conditions became so bad in the Christian camp that Ferdinand IV was forced to pawn the jewels and crowns of his wife, Constance of Portugal to pay his soldiers and knights. A short time later, the troops of Felipe de Castilla y Molina, brother of Ferdinand IV, arrived in the Christian camp accompanied by 400 knights and many footsoldiers under the command of the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela.  Towards the end of 1309, Diego Lopez V became sick as the result of an attack of gout, from which he would later die in Christian camp on the River Andarax. After months of failed attempts to take the city, Ferdinand IV decided to negotiate a peace with the Kingdom of Granada who had sent their emissary to the camp. They reached a deal where Ferdinand would lift the siege in return for 50,000 gold pieces and the towns of Quesada and Bedmar.

Death and legacy.

Diego Lopez V de Haro died in winter of 1310 in the camp at Algeciras. His niece, María II Díaz de Haro, wife of the infante John of Castile, Lord of Valencia de Campos, took possession of the Lordship of Biscay. Further, the infante John returned the villas of Paredes de Nava, Cabreros, Medina de Rioseco, Castronuño and Mansilla to the king.  After his death during the siege of Algeciras, his body was taken to the city of Burgos where he was sepulchered at the now destroyed Monasterio de San Francisco de Burgos. It was the same place where his previous wife, the infanta Violante of Castile was also buried.

Marriage and descendants.

Diego López V de Haro married the infanta Violante of Castile, together they were the parents of:

Diego López V de Haro, nicknamed "el Intruso" (c. 1250 – 1310), was a Spanish noble of the House of Haro and held the title of the Lord of Biscay which he took from the pretender to the title, John of Castile.