text: English

text: abolition of the slave trade

text: Sierra Leone

text: St. George's Bay Company

text: Sierra Leone Company

text: Province of Freedom

text: Freetown, Sierra Leone

text: biblical

text: classicist

text: Thomas Sharp

text: John Sharp

text: Archbishop of York

text: George Wheler

text: Thomas Higgons

text: Durham

text: Durham School

text: Socinian

text: Greek

text: Hebrew

text: Henry Willoughby

text: Willoughby de Parham

text: Tower of London

text: William

text: George III

text: Mincing Lane

text: Fulham

text: Fulham House

text: G♯

text: Westminster Abbey

text: Fulham

text: All Saints Church, Fulham

text: British and Foreign Bible Society

text: abolition of slavery

text: Barts Hospital

text: natural rights

text: R v Stapylton

text: Lord Mansfield

text: James Oglethorpe

text: Somerset v Stewart

text: Somersett's Case

text: Lord Mansfield

text: habeas corpus

text: pro bono publico

text: Somerset's Case

text: positive law

text: Zong

text: maritime law

text: general average

text: Liverpool

text: Olaudah Equiano

text: Solicitor General for England and Wales

text: Mr. John Lee

text: Anthony Benezet

text: Pennsylvania

text: Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade

text: Benjamin Rush

text: Act of Abolition

text: Thomas Clarkson

text: William Wilberforce

text: Clapham Sect

text: Henry Smeathman

text: entomologist

text: Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor

text: The Province of Freedom

text: Olaudah Equiano

text: Temne

text: Thomas Peters

text: Freetown

text: Thomas Clarkson

text: John Clarkson

text: American colonists

text: No taxation without representation

text: Ireland

text: impressment

text: Navy

text: United States of America

text: Archbishop of Canterbury

text: Magna Carta

text: Christopher Wordsworth

text: All Saints' Church, Fulham

text: William Sharp

text: National Portrait Gallery, London

text: Johann Zoffany

text: Mather Brown

text: free village

text: Granville

text: Jamaica

text: Westminster Abbey

text: bas-relief

text: Clarkson Memorial

text: Thomas Clarkson

text: listed

text: English Heritage

text: Department of Culture, Media and Sport

text: Simon Schama

text: Gloucestershire Archives

text: York Minster

text: General James Oglethorpe

text: press gang

text: List of abolitionist forerunners

text: Mary Sharp

text: Hoare, Prince

text: The American Anti-Slavery Society

text: BBC biography

text: Granville Sharp – Short Biography by Carey Brycchan

text: Granville Sharp and the "Zong"

text: Spartacus Schoolnet on Granville Sharp

text: The complete Granville Sharp Rule Number 1 and examples of plural nouns that agree with Rule number 1

text: Read or download Granville Sharp's Book

text: "In Favorem Libertatis": The Life and Work of Granville Sharp

text: Granville Sharp’s Reverse (False) Interpretation (the Granville Sharp Rule) of Genitive Phrases in the New Testament

categories: 1735 births,Sierra Leone Creole history,History of Sierra Leone,Clapham Sect,English abolitionists,People educated at Durham School,1813 deaths

paragraph: Granville Sharp

paragraph: Granville Sharp (10 November 1735 – 6 July 1813) was one of the first English campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade. He also involved himself in trying to correct other social injustices. Sharp formulated the plan to settle black people in Sierra Leone, and founded the St. George's Bay Company, a forerunner of the Sierra Leone Company. His efforts led to both the founding of the Province of Freedom, and later on Freetown, Sierra Leone, and so he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of Sierra Leone. He was also a biblical scholar, a classicist, and a talented musician.

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: Granville Sharp was the son of Judith Wheler (d. 1757) and Thomas Sharp (1693–1759), Archdeacon of Northumberland, prolific theological writer and biographer of his father, John Sharp, Archbishop of York. Judith was the daughter of travel writer George Wheler and Grace née Higgons, who grew up in the political household of Sir Thomas Higgons.

paragraph: Sharp was born in Durham in 1735. He had eight older brothers and five younger sisters. Five of his brothers survived their infancy and by the time Sharp had reached his midteens the family funds set aside for their education had been all but depleted, so Sharp was educated at Durham School but mainly at home.

paragraph: He was apprenticed to a London linen-draper at the age of fifteen. Sharp loved to argue and debate, and his keen intellect found little outlet in the mundane work in which he was involved. However, one of his fellow-apprentices was Socinian (a Unitarian sect that denied the divinity of Christ), and in order better to argue, Sharp taught himself Greek. Another fellow apprentice was Jewish, and so Sharp learned Hebrew in order to be able to discuss theological matters with his colleague. Sharp also conducted genealogical research for one of his masters, Henry Willoughby, who had a claim to the barony of Willoughby de Parham, and it was through Sharp's work that Willoughby was able to take his place in the House of Lords.

paragraph: Sharp's apprenticeship ended in 1757, and both his parents died soon after. That same year he accepted a position as Clerk in the Ordnance Office at the Tower of London. This civil service position allowed him plenty of free time to pursue his scholarly and intellectual pursuits.

paragraph: Sharp had a keen musical interest. Four of his siblings – William, later to become surgeon to George III, James, Elizabeth and Judith – had also come to London, and they met every day. They all played musical instruments as a family orchestra, giving concerts at William's house in Mincing Lane and later in the family sailing barge, "Apollo", which was moored at the Bishop of London's steps in Fulham, near William's country home, Fulham House. The fortnightly water-borne concerts took place from 1775–1783, the year his brother James died. Sharp had an excellent bass voice, described by George III as "the best in Britain", and he played the clarinet, oboe, flageolet, kettle drums, harp and a double-flute which he had made himself. He often signed his name in notes to friends as G♯.

paragraph: Sharp died at Fulham House on 6 July 1813, and a memorial of him was erected in Westminster Abbey. He lived in Fulham, London, and was buried in the churchyard of All Saints Church, Fulham. The vicar would not allow a funeral sermon to be preached in the church because Sharp had been involved with the British and Foreign Bible Society, which was Nonconformist.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.

paragraph: Sharp is best known for his untiring efforts for the abolition of slavery, although he was involved in many other causes, fired by a dislike of any social or legal injustice.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.:Sharp's first involvement: Jonathan Strong.

paragraph: Sharp's brother William held a regular surgery for the local poor at his surgery at Mincing Lane, and one day in 1765 when Sharp was visiting, he met Jonathan Strong. Strong was a young black slave from Barbados who had been badly beaten by his master, David Lisle, a lawyer, with a pistol to the head. This left him close to blindness and as a result was cast out into the street as useless. Sharp and his brother tended to his injuries and had him admitted to Barts Hospital, where his injuries were so bad they necessitated a four-month stay. The Sharps paid for his treatment and, when he was fit enough, found him employment as an errand runner with a Quaker apothecary friend of theirs.

paragraph: In 1767, Lisle saw Strong in the street and planned to sell him to a Jamaica planter named James Kerr for £30. Two slave catchers captured Strong with the intention to ship him to the Caribbean where he would work on Kerr's plantation. Strong was able to get word to Sharp, who went directly to the Lord Mayor who in turn convened those laying claim to Jonathan Strong.[1] In court Mr. Macbean, Kerr's attorney, produced the bill of sales from when Lisle sold Strong to Kerr. That was not enough to convince the Lord Mayor because Strong was imprisoned without clear cause, and so he liberated Strong. Afterwards, a West India Captain named David Laird grabbed Jonathan Strong's arm and claimed he would take him as James Kerr's property. Sharp, at the suggestion of Thomas Beech, the Coroner of London, threatened to charge Laird with assault should he attempt to take Strong by force. Laird let go of Strong and everyone who had been summoned departed without further dispute.

paragraph: Afterwards, they instituted a court action against Sharp claiming £200 damages for taking their property, and Lisle challenged Sharp to a duel—Sharp told Lisle that he could expect satisfaction from the law. Sharp consulted lawyers and found that as the law stood it favoured the master's rights to his slaves as property: that a slave remained in law the chattel of his master even on English soil. Sharp said "he could not believe the law of England was really so injurious to natural rights." He spent the next two years in study of English law, especially where it applied to the liberty of the individual.

paragraph: Lisle disappeared from the records early, but Kerr persisted with his suit through eight legal terms before it was dismissed, and Kerr was ordered to pay substantial damages for wasting the court's time. Jonathan Strong was free, even if the law had not been changed, but he only lived for five years as a free man, dying at 25.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.:Increasing involvement.

paragraph: The Strong case made a name for Sharp as the "protector of the Negro" and he was approached by two more slaves, although in both cases ("Hylas v Newton" and "R v Stapylton") the results were unsatisfactory, and it became plain that the judiciary – and Lord Mansfield, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench (the leading judge of the day) in particular – was trying very hard "not" to decide the issue. By this time, Great Britain was by far the largest trafficker in slaves, transporting more Africans across the Atlantic than all other nations put together, and the slave trade and slave labour were important to the British economy.

paragraph: In 1769 Sharp published "A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery ...", the first tract in England attacking slavery. Within it, he argues that "the laws of nature" grant equality to all humans regardless of any artificial laws imposed by society. He also condemns slave contracts because the liberty of a man cannot be matched in value by anything. Sharp's work attracted the attention of James Oglethorpe, who had long been concerned with slavery as a moral issue. The two men remained close until Oglethorpe's death in 1785.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.:Somerset v Stewart.

paragraph: (Also called Somersett's Case.) On 13 January 1772, Sharp was visited and asked for help by James Somerset, an indigenous person of Africa who had been brought to America to be sold in the Colony of Virginia. He was then taken to England with his master Charles Stewart in 1769, where he was able to run away in October 1771. After evading slave hunters employed by Stewart for 56 days, Somerset had been caught and put in the slave ship Ann and Mary, to be taken to Jamaica and sold. This was the perfect case for Sharp because, unlike the previous cases, this was a question of lawful slavery rather of ownership. Three Londoners had applied to Lord Mansfield for a writ of habeas corpus, which had been granted, with Somerset having to appear at a hearing on 24 January 1772. Members of the public responded to Somerset's plight by sending money to pay for his lawyers (who in the event all gave their services "pro bono publico"), while Stewart's costs were met by the West Indian planters and merchants.

paragraph: Having studied English law for several years now, Sharp called on his now-formidable knowledge of the law regarding individual liberty and briefed Somerset's lawyers. Mansfield's deliberate procrastination stretched Somerset's Case over six hearings from January to May, and he finally delivered his judgment on 22 June 1772. It was a clear victory for Somerset, Sharp and the lawyers who acted for Somerset. Mansfield acknowledged that English law did not allow slavery, and only a new Act of Parliament ("positive law") could bring it into legality. However, the verdict in the case is often misunderstood to mean the end of slavery in England. It was no such thing: it dealt only with the question of the forcible sending of someone overseas into bondage; a slave becomes free the moment he sets foot on English territory. It was one of the most significant achievements in the campaign to abolish slavery throughout the world, more for its effect than for its actual legal weight.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.:The "Zong" Massacre.

paragraph: In 1781 the crew of the over-capacity slaver ship "Zong" massacred an estimated 132 slaves by tossing them overboard; an additional ten slaves threw themselves overboard in defiance or despair and over sixty people had perished through neglect, injuries, disease and overcrowding.

paragraph: The "Zong"'s crew had mis-navigated her course and underestimated water supplies; according to the maritime law notion of general average, cargo purposely jettisoned at sea to save the remainder was eligible for insurance compensation. It was reasoned that as the slaves were cargo, the ship's owners would be entitled to the £30 a head compensation for their loss if thrown overboard: were the slaves to die on land or at sea of so-called "natural" causes, no compensation would be forthcoming.

paragraph: The ship's owners, a syndicate of merchants based in Liverpool, filed their insurance claim; the insurers disputed it. In this first case the court found for the owners. The insurers appealed.

paragraph: Sharp was visited on 19 March 1783 by Olaudah Equiano, a famous freed slave and later to be the author of a successful autobiography, who told him of the horrific events aboard the "Zong". Sharp immediately became involved in the court case, facing his old adversary over slave trade matters, the Solicitor General for England and Wales, Mr. John Lee. Lee notoriously declared that "the case was the same as if assets had been thrown overboard", and that a master could drown slaves without "a surmise of impropriety".

paragraph: The judge ruled that the "Zong"'s owners could not claim insurance on the slaves: the lack of sufficient water demonstrated that the cargo had been badly managed. However, no officers or crew were charged or prosecuted for the deliberate killing of the slaves, and Sharp's attempts to mount a prosecution for murder never got off the ground.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.:The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade.

paragraph: Sharp was not completely alone at the beginning of the struggle: the Quakers, especially in America, were committed abolitionists. Sharp had a long and fruitful correspondence with Anthony Benezet, a Quaker abolitionist in Pennsylvania. However, the Quakers were a marginal group in England, and were debarred from standing for Parliament, and they had no doubt as to whom should be the chairman of the new society they were founding, The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. On 22 May 1787, at the inaugural meeting of the Committee – nine Quakers and three Anglicans (who strengthened the committee's likelihood of influencing Parliament) – Sharp's position was unanimously agreed. In the 20 years of the society's existence, during which Sharp was ever-present at Committee meetings, such was Sharp's modesty that he would never take the chair, always contriving to arrive just after the meeting had started to avoid any chance of having to take the meeting. While the committee felt it sensible to concentrate on the slave trade, Sharp felt strongly that the target should be slavery itself. On this he was out-voted, but he worked tirelessly for the Society nevertheless.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.:Correspondence with Benjamin Rush.

paragraph: The correspondence between Granville Sharp and Anthony Benezet inspired Benjamin Rush, a physician in Philadelphia who would later become one of the founding fathers, to contact Sharp as well. This led to a connection by letter between the two that lasted 36 years. In the first letter, written May 1 1773, Rush attests to the increasing compassion within the colonies towards the suffering of the slaves. He makes mention of the clergy publicly arguing that slavery is a violation of both "the laws of nature" and Christian belief. This detail is noteworthy because Sharp was of the belief that laws should follow both "the laws of nature" and that which is given in Judeo-Christian scripture. Another letter, written February 21 1774, has Sharp providing Rush with several pamphlets, written by himself and his brothers William and James, to be shared with friends and eventually to Lord Dartmouth. Many similar exchanges of pamphlets occur throughout their correspondence, which allowed them to inspire one another and refine their arguments against slavery. The final letter of their correspondence was written June 20 1809, four years prior to the death of both figures in 1813.

paragraph: Section::::Abolitionism.:Abolition.

paragraph: When Sharp heard that the Act of Abolition had at last been passed by both Houses of Parliament and given Royal Assent on 25 March 1807, he fell to his knees and offered a prayer of thanksgiving. He was now 71, and had outlived almost all of the allies and opponents of his early campaigns. He was regarded as the grand old man of the abolition struggle, and although a driving force in its early days, his place had later been taken by others such as Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect. Sharp, however, did not see the final abolition as he died on 6 July 1813.

paragraph: Section::::The Province of Freedom.

paragraph: Although no reliable figures exist, it is thought that in the early 1780s there were around 15,000 black people in Britain, most of them without employment. Ideas were formulated for a settlement in Africa where they could return "home". Henry Smeathman, a plant collector and entomologist who had visited Sierra Leone, propounded to the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor that the country would be an excellent location. Worried black people came to see Sharp, concerned that they might be re-enslaved in such a place.

paragraph: Sharp took to the idea with alacrity: he saw it as a perfect opportunity to create a new model society from scratch. He drew up plans and regulations, and persuaded the Treasury to finance the ships and pay £12 a head to each embarking settler. He named the new, egalitarian, peaceful Christian society-to-be "The Province of Freedom".

paragraph: The utopian ideal quickly went sour in the face of tremendous logistical difficulties; fire broke out even before the ships had left London. Sharp's friend, Olaudah Equiano, highlighted corruption in the process of stocking the ships, and was dismissed as a result; 411 people sailed for Africa, including some 60 white women without Sharp's knowledge, married to the male settlers. It is unclear how many were previously betrothed and how many married in preparation for the journey; traditionally these women have been characterized as prostitutes from Deptford. However, historians have since dismissed that description as false. The settlers arrived in May 1787, at the onset of the five-month rainy season, and a settlement of sorts was built, named Granville Town. The commander of the naval escort that had brought the settlers concluded that they were unfit for the complex challenge of founding a new settlement in a potentially hostile environment. One of the settlers whom Granville had rescued from a slave ship left the settlement to work in the slave trade, much to Sharp's despair. By the end of 1788 Sharp had poured £1,735 18s 8d of his own money into the settlement. In 1789 Granville Town was burned to the ground by a local Temne chief; this may have been in retaliation for the burning of a Temne by a slave-trader.

paragraph: Through The Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, in 1790 Granville came into contact with Thomas Peters, a former American slave who fought with the British during revolution in return for freedom. Sharp was instrumental in helping Peters to establish Freetown, Sierra Leone. Sharp is considered to be one of the founders of Sierra Leone alongside Thomas Peters and the Clarkson brothers (Thomas Clarkson and John Clarkson).

paragraph: Section::::Other activism.

paragraph: Sharp ardently sympathized with the revolt of the American colonists. He believed in peace in America, but he also believed they were entitled to "Equitable Representation", an idea repeated in the famous phrase "No taxation without representation". When he realised his job in the Ordnance Office meant sending equipment to British forces fighting the colonists, he took leave of absence. As the war continued, he wrote to his employers "I cannot return to my ordnance duty whilst a bloody war is carried on, unjustly, against my fellow-subjects." Eventually in 1776 he resigned, never to have paid employment again and supported willingly by his brothers, who were happy to see him dedicate his time to his various causes.

paragraph: Sharp also advocated parliamentary reform and the legislative independence of Ireland, and agitated against the impressment of sailors for the Navy. It was through his efforts that bishops for the United States of America were consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1787. He also argued for the reform of Parliament based on Magna Carta and to back this up he devised the doctrine of accumulative authority. This doctrine stated that because almost innumerable parliaments had approved Magna Carta it would take the same number of Parliaments to repeal it. Like many others, Sharp accepted the supremacy of Parliament as an institution, but did not believe that this power was without restraint, and thought that Parliament could not repeal Magna Carta.

paragraph: Sharp was also one of the founders and the first President of the British and Foreign Bible Society and of the Society for the Conversion of the Jews.

paragraph: Section::::Classical grammarian.

paragraph: One of Granville's letters written in 1778 (published in 1798), propounded what has come to be known as The Granville Sharp Rule (in actuality only the first of six principles that Sharp articulated involving the Greek article):

paragraph: This rule, if true, has a profound bearing on Unitarian doctrine, which led to a ‘celebrated controversy’, in which many leading divines took part, including Christopher Wordsworth.

paragraph: For a full discussion of Sharp's Rule and its application to passages in the New Testament which teach the deity of Christ, see the series "The Greek Article and the Doctrine of Christ's Deity," by Clifford Kuehne. This series appeared in several issues of the "Journal of Theology" of the Church of the Lutheran Confession, and it is available for reading at the following web site: http://jot.clclutheran.org/2017/02/25/christs-deity/ This series also discusses the application of Colwell's Rule to John 1:1.

paragraph: Daniel B. Wallace says about Sharp:

paragraph: But Wallace claims that this rule is often too broadly applied. “Sharp’s rule Number 1” does not always work with plural forms of personal titles. Instead, a phrase that follows the form article-noun-“and”-noun, when the nouns involved are plurals, can involve two entirely distinct groups, two overlapping groups, two groups of which is one a subset of the other, or two identical groups. In other words, the rule is of very specific and limited application.

paragraph: Of Granville Sharp's most successful critic, Calvin Winstanley, Wallace says:

paragraph: What Wallace neglects by use of ellipses (...) is the flow of Winstanley's argument as well as the character of his theology. Winstanley's quote argued that one could not apply Sharp's rule to the possible exceptions unless it could be shown that extra-biblical literature also followed Sharp's rule. Through multiple examples Winstanley showed that in classical Greek and in patristic Greek – all the literature surrounding the New Testament, the rule simply did not apply consistently. Wallace's quote comes from the end of Winstanley's argument in which he clearly is not conceding the point. To complete Winstanley's argument:

paragraph: Winstanley was Trinitarian, but cautioned that a rule that held true only in the New Testament in all but the disputed cases was too flimsy a ground on which to try to prove the divinity of Christ to the Socinians (Unitarians). Instead he said, "[I think] there are much more cogent arguments in reserve, when [Sharp's] rule of interpretation shall be abandoned." His biggest criticisms of Sharp's rule rest in the fact that 1) the early church fathers do not follow it and 2) the early church father's never invoked this rule to prove the divinity of Christ (though it would have been an obvious tool against such heresy). He concludes, "Hence it may be presumed that the doctrine then rested on other grounds."

paragraph: However, just because Wallace exaggerates Winstanley's concession does not mean that he has no evidence to refute Winstanley. Wallace argues that, for various reasons, the only two passages from Granville's eight that truly follow Sharp's rule (for textual reasons, among others) are Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1. Wallace interacts in depth with Winstanley's critiques of Sharp and shows from grammatical, textual, linguistic, and Patristic evidence that Sharp's rule is truly valid across Classical, Biblical, Papyrological, and Patristic Greek – with some slight modification to the rules. Here is how Wallace restates the issue:

paragraph: "In native Greek constructions (i.e., not translation Greek), when a single article modifies two substantives connected by καί (thus, article-substantive-καί-substantive), when both substantives are (1) singular (both grammatically and semantically), (2) personal, (3) and common nouns (not proper names or ordinals), they have the same referent."

paragraph: Section::::Legacy.

paragraph: After his death on 6 July 1813, Granville Sharp was buried at All Saints' Church, Fulham, beside his brother William Sharp and sister Elizabeth Prouse. The inscription on his tomb states:

paragraph: "Here by the Remains

paragraph: of the Brother and Sister whom he tenderly loved

paragraph: lie those of

paragraph: GRANVILLE SHARP Esqr.

paragraph: at the age of 79 this venerable Philanthropist

paragraph: terminated his Career

paragraph: of almost unparalleled activity and usefulness

paragraph: July 6th 1813

paragraph: "Leaving behind him a name"

paragraph: "That will be Cherished with Affection and Gratitude"

paragraph: "as long as any homage shall be paid to those principles"

paragraph: "of JUSTICE HUMANITY and RELIGION"

paragraph: "which for nearly half a Century"

paragraph: "He promoted by his Exertions"

paragraph: "and adorned by his Example""

paragraph: Sharp's portrait was made many times, both during his life and afterwards. The National Portrait Gallery, London holds seven portraits, including the large oil of "The Sharp Family" by Johann Zoffany and six pencil drawings, etchings and engravings. An oil portrait of Sharp by Mather Brown is in a private collection.

paragraph: As well as Granville Town in Sierra Leone, the free village of Granville in Jamaica was named after Sharp.

paragraph: A memorial to Sharp was erected in Westminster Abbey, and he features in carved bas-relief on the side of the Clarkson Memorial, a memorial to fellow-abolitionist Thomas Clarkson (1760–1846).

paragraph: In 2007, the Royal Mail issued a set of stamps to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom. Sharp featured on the 50p stamp.

paragraph: In 2007, Sharp's tomb in the graveyard of All Saints' Church, Fulham was also restored to coincide with the anniversary. In recognition of Sharp's historical importance and preparation for the anniversary, the tomb was listed as Grade II on 16 March 2007, only three months after the application was made to English Heritage and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The tomb was restored in June 2007 and a ceremony to mark the completion of the work was held in the church, attended by many notable figures including Professor Simon Schama. Speaking at the service, Schama said that "Sharp's great contribution was to 'lower the threshold of shame' in society."

paragraph: Granville Sharp's papers are deposited at the Gloucestershire Archives, reference D3549. There is also a substantial collection of his letters at York Minster Library.

paragraph: Section::::Works.

paragraph: Notable publications are in bold.

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1765 "An Answer to the Rev. Dr. Kennicot's Charge of Corruptions in the Hebrew Texts of Ezra and Nehemiah

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1767 "A Short Introduction to Vocal Musick"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1767 "On the Pronunciation of the English Tongue"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1768 "Remarks on Several Important Prophecies ..."

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1769 A Representation of the Injustice and Dangerous Tendency of Tolerating Slavery ..., the first tract in England attacking slavery

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1771 An Appendix to the Representation, reinforcing his case against slavery

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1771 "Remarks Concerning Encroachments on the River Thames"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1773 "Remarks ... against Duelling"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1774 A Declaration of the People's Natural Right to a Share in the Legislature, in support of the American colonists

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1775 A Declaration of the People's Natural Right ..., in support of both Americans and Irish

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1776 "The Law of Retribution"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1776 The Just Limitation of Slavery in the Laws of God

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1776 "The Laws of Passive Obedience"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1776 "The Laws of Liberty"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1777 preface to General James Oglethorpe's "The Sailor's Advocate", an attack on press gangs

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1777 "The Laws of Nature"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1777 "The Case of Saul"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1778 "An Address to the People of England ... stating the Illegality of impressing Seamen"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1779 "The Doctrine of 'Nullum Tempus occurrit Regi' Explained ..."

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1780 seven tracts on The Legal Means of Political Reformation

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1781 seven tracts on "Free Militia"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1784 "Congregational Courts and the ancient English Constitution of Frankpledge"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1784 "A Tract on the Election of Bishops"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1786 "An English Alphabet for the Use of Foreigners"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1786 Regulations for a New Settlement of Sierra Leone

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1790 Free English Territory in Africa

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1790 "Plan of a Public Charity"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1791 "A Letter ... (on) the State of the London Workhouse"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1792 "Causes des Calamités publiques qui régnent à présent par toute l'Étendue de L'Empire Romain"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1792 "A Collection of Political Papers, with Remarks on the Accomplishment of Prophecies"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1793 A Letter to a Gentleman in Maryland respecting the extreme Wickedness of tolerating the Slave Trade ...

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1794 "A General plan for laying out Towns and Townships in new-acquired Lands ..."

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1798 Remarks on the Uses of the Definitive Article in the Greek Text of the New Testament, Containing Many New Proofs of the Divinity of Christ, from Passages Which Are Wrongly Translated in the Common English Version, which contains the grammatical principle still known as "Sharp's Rule"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1801 "The Child's First Book improved, with a Preface addressed to Mothers and Teachers"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1801 "An Answer to an anonymous Letter on Pre-Destination and Free-will, with a Postscript on Eternal Punishments"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1801 "Extract of a Letter on Land-Carriages, Roads, and profitable Labour of Oxen"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1804 three tracts on "The Syntax and Pronunciation of the Hebrew Tongue"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1805 "An Inquiry whether the Description of Babylon ... agrees perfectly with Rome, as a City etc. ..."

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1805 "A Letter ... respecting the proposed Catholic Emancipation"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1805 Serious Reflections on the Slave Trade and Slavery Addressed to the Peers of Great Britain

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1806 "A Dissertation on the supreme Divine Dignity of the Messiah"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1806 "Remarks on the two last Petitions in the Lord's Prayer ..."

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1807 "The System of Colonial Law compared with the eternal Laws of God, and with the Indispensable Principles of the British Constitution"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1807 "A Letter in Answer to some of the leading Principles and Doctrines of the People called Quakers"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1807 "The Case of Saul, to which is added a short tract wherein the Influence of Demons is further illustrated"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1808 "Jerusalem ... respecting the Etymology of that Word"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1810 "Melchisedec; or an Answer to a Question respecting the Reality of Melchisedec's Existence, as King of Salem and priest of the Most High God"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1811 "Modus Decimandi"

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1812 "Remarks on an important Passage, Matt. xxi. 18, which has long been perverted by the Church of Rome in Support of her vain Pretensions to supreme Dominion over all other Episcopal Churches"

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- List of abolitionist forerunners (Thomas Clarkson)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mary Sharp

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Hoare, Prince, "Memoirs of Granville Sharp, Esq., Composed from his own Manuscripts and Other Authentic Documents in the Possession of his Family and of the African Institution" London, 1820 (2nd edition of 1828 online at

paragraph: BULLET::::- Hochschild, Adam, "Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves" (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 2006), 467 pp., paperback:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lascelles, Edward Charles Ponsonby, 1928, "Granville Sharp and the Freedom of the Slaves in England" Oxford University Press

paragraph: BULLET::::- Nadelhaft, Jerome, 1966, "The Somersett Case and Slavery: Myth, Reality, and Repercussions" in "Journal of Negro History," Vol. 51, No. 3 (Jul., 1966), pp. 193–208

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pollard, Albert Frederick,

paragraph: BULLET::::- Stuart, Charles, 1836, "A Memoir of Granville Sharp" New York: The American Anti-Slavery Society

paragraph: BULLET::::- Winstanley, Calvin. "A Vindication of Certain Passages in the Common English Version of the New Testament: Addressed to Granville Sharp, Esq." Cambridge University Press, 1819 (2nd ed). Online at: .

paragraph: BULLET::::- Wise, Steven M., 2005, "Though The Heavens May Fall: The Landmark Trial That Led To The End Of Human Slavery"

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- BBC biography

paragraph: BULLET::::- Granville Sharp – Short Biography by Carey Brycchan

paragraph: BULLET::::- Granville Sharp and the "Zong"

paragraph: BULLET::::- Spartacus Schoolnet on Granville Sharp

paragraph: BULLET::::- The complete Granville Sharp Rule Number 1 and examples of plural nouns that agree with Rule number 1

paragraph: BULLET::::- Read or download Granville Sharp's Book

paragraph: BULLET::::- "In Favorem Libertatis": The Life and Work of Granville Sharp, by Carl Watner, in "The Journal of Libertarian Studies", Vol. IV. No. 2 (Spring 1980)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Granville Sharp’s Reverse (False) Interpretation (the Granville Sharp Rule) of Genitive Phrases in the New Testament

description: English campaigners for the abolition of the slave trade

enwikiquote_title: Granville Sharp

wikidata_label: Granville Sharp

wikipedia_title: Granville Sharp


text: fencing master

text: Italian master

text: martial arts manual

text: Cividale del Friuli

text: Patriarchal State of Aquileia

text: Friuli

text: Premariacco

text: imperial immediacy

text: Edelfrei

text: Germanic

text: knight

text: nobility

text: Imperial Free Knights

text: Cristallo dei Liberi

text: Henry V

text: Holy Roman Empire

text: duel

text: longsword

text: unarmored

text: gambeson

text: chamois

text: gloves

text: condottieri

text: Piero Paolo del Verde

text: Niccolo Unricilino

text: Galeazzo Cattaneo dei Grumelli

text: Lancillotto Beccaria di Pavia

text: Giovannino da Baggio di Milano

text: Azzone di Castelbarco

text: Perugia

text: Pietro della Corona

text: Aquileian War of Succession

text: Udine

text: Philippe II d'Alençon

text: Cardinal

text: artillery

text: Padua

text: Marshal

text: Jean II Le Maingre

text: Francesco Novello da Carrara

text: Francesco I Gonzaga

text: Mantua

text: spear

text: helmet

text: poleaxe

text: Pavia

text: squire

text: Gian Galeazzo Visconti

text: Milan

text: poleaxe

text: estoc

text: dagger

text: Giovanni degli Ordelaffi

text: Francesco Novati

text: D. Luigi Zanutto

text: Niccolò III d'Este

text: Ferrara

text: Modena

text: Parma

text: Bolognese

text: Filippo di Bartolomeo Dardi

text: Philippo di Vadi

text: Ludwig VI von Eyb

text: Hartenstein

text: illuminated manuscript

text: wrestling

text: grappling

text: daga

text: sword

text: armor

text: halfsword

text: poleaxe

text: spear

text: small stick or baton

text: chiavarina

text: the Morgan Library & Museum

text: New York City

text: NY

text: Venice

text: Jacopo Soranzo

text: Jesuit

text: Matteo Luigi Canonici

text: London

text: Sotheby's

text: Walter Sneyd

text: Coventry

text: Tammaro de Marinis

text: John Pierpont Morgan

text: John Pierpont Morgan, Jr.

text: J. Paul Getty Museum

text: Los Angeles

text: CA

text: Nicolò Marcello

text: Apostolo Zeno

text: Luigi Celotti

text: London

text: Sotheby's

text: Thomas Phillipps

text: collection of Peter and Irene Ludwig

text: World War II

text: Renaissance Latin

text: Francesco Novati

text: Carlo Alberto Pisani Dossi

text: Bibliothèque nationale de France

text: Puy-moyen

text: Sieur Janssen

text: Louis Phélypeaux

text: marquis

text: Phélypeaux

text: Bibliothèque du Roi

text: Ferrara

text: Biography and primary source documents

text: High-resolution images of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13

text: Google Art Project

text: Facsimile of the Pisani Dossi Ms.

text: PDF

text: High-resolution images of the Mss. Latin 11269

text: Partial translation of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 and Ms. M.383

text: Translation of the Pisani Dossi Ms.

text: Transcription and French translation of the Ms. Latin 11269

categories: Historical European martial arts,Martial arts school founders,1350s births,People from Cividale del Friuli,15th-century deaths,1409 books,15th-century Italian people,Italian male fencers,Medieval Italian knights,14th-century Italian people

paragraph: Fiore dei Liberi

paragraph: Fiore Furlano de Cividale d'Austria, delli Liberi da Premariacco (Fiore dei Liberi, Fiore Furlano, Fiore de Cividale d'Austria; born ca. 1350; died after 1409, was a late 14th century knight, diplomat, and itinerant fencing master.

paragraph: He is the earliest Italian master from whom we have an martial arts manual. His Flower of Battle ("Fior di Battaglia", "Flos Duellatorum") is among the oldest surviving fencing manuals.

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: Fiore dei Liberi was born in Cividale del Friuli, a town in the Patriarchal State of Aquileia in the Friuli region of modern-day Italy, the son of Benedetto and scion of a Liberi house of Premariacco. The term "Liberi", while potentially merely a surname, probably indicates that his family had imperial immediacy, either as part of the Edelfrei ("nobili liberi", "free nobles"), the Germanic unindentured knightly class which formed the lower tier of nobility in the Middle Ages, or possibly of the rising class of Imperial Free Knights. It has been suggested by various historians that Fiore and Benedetto were descended from Cristallo dei Liberi of Premariacco, who was granted immediacy in 1110 by Emperor Henry V, but this has yet to be confirmed.

paragraph: Fiore wrote that he had a natural inclination to the martial arts and began training at a young age, ultimately studying with "countless" masters from both the Italian and German parts of the Holy Roman Empire.

paragraph: He also writes of meeting many "false" or unworthy masters who lacked even the limited skill he'd expect in a good student,

paragraph: and mentions that on five separate occasions he was forced to fight duels for his honor against certain of these masters whom he described as envious because he refused to teach them his art; the duels were all fought with sharp longswords, unarmored except for gambesons and chamois gloves, and he stated that he won each without injury.

paragraph: He further offers an extensive list of the famous "condottieri" that he trained, including Piero Paolo del Verde (Peter von Grünen), Niccolo Unricilino (Nikolo von Urslingen), Galeazzo Cattaneo dei Grumelli (Galeazzo Gonzaga da Mantova), Lancillotto Beccaria di Pavia, Giovannino da Baggio di Milano, and Azzone di Castelbarco, and also highlights some of their martial exploits.

paragraph: Based on Fiore's autobiographical account, he can tentatively be placed in Perosa (Perugia) in 1381 when Piero del Verde likely fought a duel with Pietro della Corona (Peter Kornwald).

paragraph: That same year, the Aquileian War of Succession erupted as a coalition of secular nobles from Udine and surrounding cities sought to remove the newly appointed Patriarch, Philippe II d'Alençon. Fiore seems to have sided with the secular nobility against the Cardinal as in 1383 there is record of him being tasked by the grand council with inspection and maintenance on the artillery pieces defending Udine (including large crossbows and catapults). There are also records of him working variously as a magistrate, peace officer, and agent of the grand council during the course of 1384, but after that the historical record is silent. The war continued until a new Patriarch was appointed in 1389 and a peace settlement was reached, but it's unclear if Fiore remained involved for the duration. Given that he appears in council records five times in 1384, it would be quite odd for him to be completely unmentioned over the subsequent five years, and since his absence after May 1384 coincides with a proclamation in July of that year demanding that Udine cease hostilities or face harsh repercussions, it seems more likely that he moved on.

paragraph: After the war, Fiore seems to have traveled a good deal in northern Italy, teaching fencing and training men for duels. In 1395, Fiore can be placed in Padua training the mercenary captain Galeazzo Gonzaga of Mantua for a duel with the French Marshal Jean II Le Maingre (who used the war name "Boucicaut"). Galeazzo made the challenge when Boucicaut called into question the valor of Italians at the royal court of France, and the duel was ultimately set for Padua on 15 August. Both Francesco Novello da Carrara, Lord of Padua, and Francesco I Gonzaga, Lord of Mantua, were in attendance. The duel was to begin with spears on horseback, but Boucicaut became impatient and dismounted, attacking his opponent before he could mount his own horse. Cattaneo landed a solid blow on the Frenchman's helmet, but was subsequently disarmed. At this point, Boucicaut reached for his poleaxe but the lords intervened to end the duel.

paragraph: Fiore surfaces again in Pavia in 1399, this time training Giovannino da Baggio for a duel with a German squire named Sirano. It was fought on 24 June and attended by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, as well as the duchess and other nobles. The duel was to consist of three bouts of mounted lance followed by three bouts each of dismounted poleaxe, estoc, and dagger. They ultimately rode two additional passes and on the fifth, Baggio impaled Sirano's horse through the chest, slaying the horse but losing his lance in the process. They fought the other nine bouts as scheduled, and due to the strength of their armor (and the fact that all of the weapons were blunted), both combatants reportedly emerged from these exchanges unharmed.

paragraph: Fiore was likely involved in at least one other duel that year, between his final named student Azzone di Castelbarco and Giovanni degli Ordelaffi, as the latter is known to have died in 1399. After Castelbarco's duels, Fiore's activities are unclear. Based on the allegiances of the nobles that he trained in the 1390s, he seems to have been associated with the ducal court of Milan in the latter part of his career. Some time in the first years of the 15th century, Fiore composed a fencing treatise in Italian and Latin called "The Flower of Battle" (rendered variously as "Fior di Battaglia", "Florius de Arte Luctandi", and "Flos Duellatorum"). The briefest version of the text is dated to 1409 and indicates that it was a labor of six months and great personal effort; as evidence suggests that two longer versions were composed some time before this, we may assume that he devoted a considerable amount of time to writing during this decade.

paragraph: Beyond this, nothing certain is known of Fiore's activities in the 15th century. Francesco Novati and D. Luigi Zanutto both assume that some time before 1409 he accepted an appointment as court fencing master to Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara, Modena, and Parma; presumably he would have made this change when Milan fell into disarray in 1402, though Zanutto went so far as to speculate that he trained Niccolò for his 1399 passage at arms. However, while two surviving copies of "the Flower of Battle" are dedicated to the marquis, it seems more likely that the manuscripts were written as a diplomatic gift to Ferrara from Milan when they made peace in 1404.

paragraph: C. A. Blengini di Torricella stated that late in life he made his way to Paris, France, where he could be placed teaching fencing in 1418 and creating a copy of a fencing manual located there in 1420. Though he attributes these facts to Novati, no publication verifying them has yet been located. The time and place of Fiore's death remain unknown.

paragraph: Despite the depth and complexity of his writings, Fiore dei Liberi does not seem to have been a very influential master in the development of Italian fencing. That field was instead dominated by the tradition of his near-contemporary the Bolognese master Filippo di Bartolomeo Dardi. Even so, there are a number of later treatises which bear strong resemblance to his work, including the writings of Philippo di Vadi and Ludwig VI von Eyb of Hartenstein. This may be due to the direct influence of Fiore or his writings, or it may instead indicate that the older tradition of Johane and Nicholai survived and spread outside of his direct line.

paragraph: Section::::The Flower of Battle.

paragraph: Four illuminated manuscript copies of this treatise survive, and there are records of at least two others whose current locations are unknown. The Ms. Ludwig XV 13 and the Pisani Dossi Ms. are both dedicated to Niccolò III d'Este and state that they were written at his request and according to his design. The Ms. M.383, on the other hand, lacks a dedication and claims to have been laid out according to his own intelligence while the Mss. Latin 11269 lost any dedication it might have had along with its prologue. Each of the extant copies of "the Flower of Battle" follows a distinct order, though both of these pairs contain strong similarities to each other in order of presentation.

paragraph: The major sections of the work include: "abrazare", unarmed plays (usually translated as "wrestling" but more literally "grappling"); "daga", including both unarmed defenses against the dagger and plays of dagger against dagger; "spada a un mano", the use of the sword in one hand (also called "the sword without the buckler"); "spada a dui mani", the use of the sword in two hands; "spada en arme", the use of the sword in armor (primarily techniques from the halfsword); "azza", plays of the poleaxe in armor; "lancia", spear and staff plays; and mounted combat (including the spear, the sword, and grappling). Brief bridging sections serve to connect each of these, covering such topics as "bastoncello", or plays of a small stick or baton against unarmed and dagger-wielding opponents; plays of longsword vs. dagger; plays of staff and dagger and of two clubs and a dagger; and the use of the chiavarina against a man on horseback.

paragraph: The format of instruction is largely consistent across all copies of the treatise. Each section begins with a group of Masters (or Teachers), figures in golden crowns who each demonstrate a particular guard for use with their weapon. These are followed by a master called "Remedio" (remedy) who demonstrates a defensive technique against some basic attack (usually how to use one of the listed guards to defend), and then by his various Scholars (or Students), figures wearing golden garters on their legs who demonstrate iterations and variations of this remedy. After the scholars there is typically a master called "Contrario" (counter), wearing both crown and garter, who demonstrates how to counter the master's remedy (and those of his scholars), who is likewise sometimes followed by his own scholars in garters. In rare cases, a fourth type of master appears called "Contra-Contrario" (counter-counter), who likewise wears the crown and garter and demonstrates how to defeat the master's counter. Some sections feature multiple master remedies or master counters, while some have only one. There are also many cases in which an image in one manuscript will only feature a scholar's garter where the corresponding image in another also includes a master's crown. Depending on the instance, this may either be intentional or merely an error in the art.

paragraph: Section::::The Flower of Battle.:"Fior di Battaglia" (Ms. M.383).

paragraph: The Ms. M.383, titled "Fior di Battaglia", is in the holdings of the Morgan Library & Museum in New York City, NY. Novati described it as a small, thin, vellum folio, pen and ink with gold highlights, and illustrations of sword and lance combat on foot and horseback. Unlike the other surviving manuscripts, the swords and other weapons were enameled in silver, though it has since tarnished to a glossy black. This is the briefest copy of Fiore's work currently known, with only 19 folios; it has a prologue in Italian and four illustrated figures per page in the main body. The figures are accompanied by text that is often identical to that of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 (excepting differences in spelling), but at times includes additional explanation. The Ms. M.383 is almost certainly longer when it was first written; its text makes reference to sections on poleaxe, dagger, and grappling which are not present in the book's current state. It also refers to a certain play of the sword in one hand which is likewise missing from that section. This manuscript is typically referred to as the 'Pierpont Morgan version' or simply the 'Morgan'.

paragraph: The known provenance of the Ms. M.383 is:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Written between 1400 and 1409. The Pisani Dossi Ms. dates to 1409 and states that the master had fifty years of experience in the martial arts; the Ms. M.383 and the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 both state that he had been training for "forty years and more", which makes them slightly older.

paragraph: BULLET::::- before 1780 – it occupied ff 241–259 of a larger collective binding titled, "Arte di armeggiare a piedi ed acavallo" (codex Soranzo MCCLXI) in the Biblioteca Soranzo in Venice (Library of Jacopo Soranzo, Venetian senator, 18th century). The other contents of this codex are unknown.

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1780–1836 – the collection of the Venetian former Jesuit Matteo Luigi Canonici (1727–c.1806) (sold London, Sotheby's, 15 June 1836, no. 40).

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1836–1903 – owned by Rev. Walter Sneyd of Bagington Rectory, Coventry (sold London, Sotheby's, 19 Dec. 1903, no. 720).

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1903–1909 – owned by Tammaro de Marinis (catalog 8, 1908, plate 9).

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1909–1913 – owned by John Pierpont Morgan.

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1913–1924 – owned by John Pierpont Morgan, Jr. (donated 1924).

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1924–present – held by the Morgan Library & Museum.

paragraph: The contents of the Ms. M.383 are as follows:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Prologue (ff 1r–2r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mounted combat (ff 2v–8r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Spear vs. cavalry (ff 8r–8v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Lanza" plays (ff 9r–9v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" stances (ff 10r–10v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" plays (ff 10v–11v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" stances (ff 12r–13r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" wide plays (ff 13v–14v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" close plays (ff 15r–16v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sword vs. dagger play (f 17r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a un mano" plays (f 17v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Longsword against spear/spear and dagger against spear (f 18r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sword vs. dagger plays (ff 18r–18v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a un mano" play (f 19r)

paragraph: Section::::The Flower of Battle.:"Fior di Battaglia" (Ms. Ludwig XV 13).

paragraph: The Ms. Ludwig XV 13, also titled "Fior di Battaglia", is currently in the holdings of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, CA. Its prologue, format, illustrations, and text are all very similar to the Ms. M.383, though it's largely free of silver enamel. The text takes the form of descriptive paragraphs set in poor Italian verse, which are nevertheless fairly clear and informative. Despite its shared characteristics with the Ms. M.383, there are important differences, not the least of which is the vastly different order of the information. This is the longest and most comprehensive of the four manuscripts of "Fior di Battaglia". This manuscript is typically referred to as the 'Getty version'.

paragraph: The known provenance of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 is:

paragraph: BULLET::::- before 1474 – owned by Nicolò Marcello of Venice.

paragraph: BULLET::::- ca. 1699 – gifted to Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750), who created a copy of the preface.

paragraph: BULLET::::- before 1825 – owned by Luigi Celotti (sold London, Sotheby's, 1825)).

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1825–1966 – the Ms. 4202 in the collection of Thomas Phillipps (sold London, Sotheby's, 1966).

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1966–1983 – the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 in the collection of Peter and Irene Ludwig.

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1983–present – the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

paragraph: The contents of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 are as follows:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Prologue (ff 1v–2v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- (ff 3r–5v – blank pages)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Abrazare" stances (f 6r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Abrazare" plays (ff 6v–8r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Bastoncello" plays (f 8v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" stances (f 9r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" intro (ff 9v–10r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" plays (ff 10v–18v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sword vs. dagger plays (ff 19r–20r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a un mano" plays (ff 20r–21v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" intro (ff 22r–22v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Four strikes of the sword (f 23r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" stances (ff 23v–24v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" wide plays (ff 25r–27v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" close plays (ff 27v–30v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Longsword against spear/spear and dagger against spear (ff 31r–31v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- The seven swords (f 32r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" stances (ff 32v–33r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" plays (ff 33r–35r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Azza" stances (ff 35v–36r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Azza" plays (36v–37v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" plays (ff 38r–38v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Lanza" plays (ff 39r–40r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- (ff 40v – blank page)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mounted combat plays (ff 41r–45v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Spear vs. cavalry (f 46r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mounted combat plays (f 46v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Closing (ff 46v–47r)

paragraph: Section::::The Flower of Battle.:"Flos Duellatorum" (Pisani Dossi Ms.).

paragraph: The Pisani Dossi Ms., titled "Flos Duellatorum", was believed to have been lost in World War II and only resurfaced in a private collection in Italy in 2005. Novati described this manuscript as an unbound collection of leaves, covered with a cardboard folder with a marbled paper cover. The Pisani Dossi Ms. is the only manuscript in the series that includes a date, claiming to be completed on 10 February 1409 after six months of effort. It consists of 36 folia and possesses two different prologues, one in Renaissance Latin and one in Italian. The body of the text consists of four to six illustrations per page, each with only a brief couplet or quatrain to explain it. This manuscript is typically referred to as either the 'Novati' or 'Pisani Dossi version'.

paragraph: The Pisani Dossi Ms. was published in facsimile by Francesco Novati in 1902, including the only reproductions of a copy of "the Flower of Battle" that are clearly in the public domain. However, it is unclear how accurate this facsimile is as evidence suggests that Novati may have hired an artist to create a tracing of the original manuscript rather than reproducing it directly. This would have provided ample opportunity for errors to creep into the images, and might also account for the significant divergences from the artistic style of the Getty and the Morgan.

paragraph: The known provenance of the Pisani Dossi Ms. is:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Completed by Fiore de'i Liberi on 10 February 1409. Though it was dedicated to Niccolò III d'Este, there is no evidence that it ever passed into his library.

paragraph: BULLET::::- before 1663 – belonged to Schier de' Prevosti da Valbregaglia, passed into the library of the Sacchi da Bucinigo family (purchased before 1902, Carlo Alberto Pisani Dossi).

paragraph: BULLET::::- before 1902–present – owned by the Pisani Dossi family.

paragraph: The contents of the Pisani Dossi Ms. are as follows:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Latin Prologue (f 1r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Italian Prologue (ff 1r–1v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- (ff 2r–2v – blank pages)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Abrazare" stances (f 3r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Abrazare" plays (ff 3v–4v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Bastoncello" plays (f 4v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" intro (f 5r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" plays (ff 5r–11v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Four strikes of the sword (ff 11v–12r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a un mano" plays (ff 12r–13v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Lanza" plays (ff 14v–15v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Longsword against spear/unarmed against spear (f 15r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- The seven swords (f 16v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" stances (ff 16r–18r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" wide plays (ff 19v–20v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" close plays (ff 21r–23v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" stances (ff 24r–24v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" plays (ff 24v–25v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Azza" stances (f 26r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Azza" plays (ff 26v–27r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- (f 27v – blank page)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mounted combat plays (ff 28r–32v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Spear vs. cavalry (f 33r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mounted combat play (f 33v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sword vs. dagger plays (ff 34r–35r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Exotic poleaxes (f 35r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Closing (f 35v)

paragraph: Section::::The Flower of Battle.:"Florius de Arte Luctandi" (Mss. Latin 11269).

paragraph: The Mss. Latin 11269, titled "Florius de Arte Luctandi" in a 17th-century script, is currently in the holdings of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Any preface it once possessed is missing from the current form of the manuscript; it consists of 44 folios with two pairings per page, and is the only copy of Fiore's treatise whose illustrations are fully painted. Unlike Fiore's other works, this manuscript is written entirely in Latin; its descriptions are cast in couplets and quatrains similar to the Pisani Dossi Ms. This manuscript is generally referred to as either the Florius or the Paris.

paragraph: The known provenance of the Mss. Latin 11269 is:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Written in the early 15th century, probably after the completion of Flos Duellatorum in 1409.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ca. 1635 – rebound by a master papermaker who worked at the Puy-moyen mill for Sieur Janssen.

paragraph: BULLET::::- before 1712 – in the collection of Louis Phélypeaux, marquis de Phélypeaux. Donated by him to the Bibliothèque du Roi, where it was labeled "Florius de Art Luctandi".

paragraph: BULLET::::- 1712–present – held by the Bibliothèque du Roi/Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

paragraph: The contents of the Mss. Latin 11269 are as follows:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Title page (f 1r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Segno with 7 swords and animal virtues (f 1v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mounted combat (ff 2r–5v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Spear vs. cavalry (ff 6r–6v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Lanza" plays (ff 6v–7v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Plays of spear with dagger and two clubs with dagger (f 8r–8v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Azza" plays (ff 8v–10r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a un mano" (ff 10r–12r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" stances (ff 12v–13v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" wide plays (ff 14r–15v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" plays (ff 16r–17v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" stances (f 18r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" plays (ff 18r–18v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- (f 19r – blank page)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada en arme" stances (f 19v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sword vs. dagger plays (ff 20r–20v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" intro (f 21r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" plays (ff 21v–25v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" wide play (ff 26r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spada a dui mani" close plays (ff 26r–30v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" plays (ff 31r–38r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Abrazare" stances (f 38v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Abrazare" plays (ff 39r–42v)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Daga" plays (ff 43r–44r)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Closing (f 44r)

paragraph: Section::::The Flower of Battle.:Codices LXXXIV and CX.

paragraph: The Codex LXXXIV (or Ms. 84) is mentioned in the 1436 and 1508 catalogs of the Biblioteca Estense in Ferrara, but disappeared some time in the 16th century. It consisted of 58 folios bound in leather with a clasp, with a white eagle and two helmets on the first page. The Codex CX (or Ms. 110) is also mentioned in the 1436 and 1508 catalogs of the Biblioteca Estense, but not in later inventories. It consisted of 15 small-format folios on unbound parchment, and was written in two columns.

paragraph: The contents and current whereabouts of these copies of the Flower of Battle are unknown. It is possible that these listings refer to manuscripts listed above, though none currently possess the correct number of folios or match the physical descriptions.

paragraph: Section::::Further reading.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Windsor, Guy (2016). "Advanced Longsword." Helsinki, Finland: Spada Press.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Windsor, Guy (2014). "The Medieval Longsword". Helsinki, Finland: Spada Press.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Windsor, Guy (2011). "The Armizare Vade Mecum." Wheaton, IL: Freelance Academy Press.

paragraph: BULLET::::- dei Liberi, Fiore; Leoni, Tommaso. "Fiore de' Liberi's Fior di Battaglia," a full translation of the Getty manuscript. 1st ed. Lulu.com (2009). 2nd ed. Wheaton, IL: Freelance Academy Press (2012).

paragraph: BULLET::::- Windsor, Guy (2012). "The Medieval Dagger." Wheaton, IL: Freelance Academy Press.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Windsor, Guy (2004). "The Swordsman’s Companion." Highland Village, TX: The Chivalry Bookshelf.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Biography and primary source documents on Wiktenauer.com

paragraph: Section::::External links.:Image Galleries.

paragraph: BULLET::::- High-resolution images of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 courtesy of the Google Art Project. Retrieved 8 May 2013.

paragraph: BULLET::::- High-resolution images of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 courtesy of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Retrieved 8 May 2013.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Facsimile of the Pisani Dossi Ms. from Novati, 1902 (PDF file, 42 MB). Retrieved 8 May 2013.

paragraph: BULLET::::- High-resolution images of the Mss. Latin 11269 courtesy of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Retrieved 8 May 2013.

paragraph: Section::::External links.:Transcriptions and Translations.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Partial translation of the Ms. Ludwig XV 13 and Ms. M.383 by Matt Easton and Eleonora Durban (inc. transcription). Retrieved 8 May 2013.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Partial translation of the Ms. M.383, Ms. Ludwig XV 13, and Pisani Dossi Ms. by Rob Lovett and Mark Lancaster (inc. transcription). Retrieved 8 May 2013.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Translation of the Pisani Dossi Ms., by Hermes Michelini. Retrieved 8 May 2013.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Transcription and French translation of the Ms. Latin 11269 by Charlélie Berthaut. Retrieved 8 May 2013.

description: A late 14th Century Italian knight, diplomat, and master of arms

wikidata_label: Fiore dei Liberi

wikipedia_title: Fiore dei Liberi


text: Costa Rican

text: Nicaragua

text: antivenin

text: penicillin

text: discovery of penicillin

text: Alexander Fleming

text: monographs

text: San Marcos

text: Nicaragua

text: Cartago

text: scholarship

text: Zoology

text: Botany

text: academic rank

text: Doctor

text: Pasteur Institute

text: ailment

text: bromeliad

text: ophidism

text: phytopathology

text: industrial microbiology

text: San José

text: Penicillium

text: genus

text: Staphylococci

text: Streptococci

text: Alexander Fleming

text: Costa Rican

text: colónes

text: Clodomiro Picado Research Institute

text: Dulce Nombre

text: Coronado

text: Universidad de Costa Rica

text: Turrialba

text: Cartago

text: Cinco Esquinas

text: Tibás

text: Atropoides picadoi

text: Complete Biography edited by CONICIT

text: Clodomiro Picado Institute, Costa Rica

categories: 1887 births,People from Carazo Department,1944 deaths,Costa Rican scientists

paragraph: Clodomiro Picado Twight

paragraph: Clodomiro Picado Twight (April 17, 1887 - May 16, 1944), also known as "Clorito Picado", was a Costa Rican scientist, born in Nicaragua, who was recognized for his research and discoveries. He was a pioneer in the researching of snakes and serpent venoms; his internationally recognized achievement is the development of various antivenins. His work on molds was a precursor to the formal discovery of penicillin. His work resulted in compounds which he used to treat patients at least one year before the re-discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming. He wrote over 115 works, mainly books and monographs.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Early life.

paragraph: Picado was born in April 1887 in San Marcos in Nicaragua to Clodomiro Picado Lara and Carlota Twight Umaña, who both had Costa Rican citizenship. In 1890, when Picado was 2 years old, he and his parents moved to Cartago, Costa Rica. He then attended San Luis Gonzaga high school, graduating in 1906. Due to his excellent grades, he was granted a scholarship to study in France, where he later studied at the University of the Sorbonne and received his diploma in Zoology in 1909. In 1910, he returned to Costa Rica, but left shortly after to continue his studies. He received his diploma with superior studies in Botany. Picado received the academic rank of Doctor in science in 1913, and that same year he was admitted to the Pasteur Institute and the Colonial Institute of Paris. In 1915, he published ""Anales del Hospital de San José"", a quarterly medical publication in Costa Rica.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Death.

paragraph: In 1944, after an ailment Picado died. Dr. Picado was declared "Meritorious of the Motherland" () by the Costa Rican Congress, by means of decree no. 34 of 21 of December 1943.

paragraph: Section::::Investigation and findings.

paragraph: The scientific work of Dr. Picado was prolific and very extensive; it is calculated that he wrote about 115 research papers in his lifetime, delving into nearly all aspects of his environment: soil, flora, fauna, human tissues, water, and others. Among them are included books and monographs. His work covered topics of zoology, botany of bromeliads, ophidism, physiology, phytopathology, industrial microbiology, medical microbiology, and immunology.

paragraph: In March 2000, doctors from the San Juan de Dios Hospital in San José, the capital of Costa Rica, published his manuscripts, in which he explains his experiences between 1915 and 1927 with the inhibiting action of fungi of the "Penicillium" genus in the growth of "Staphylococci" and "Streptococci" (bacteria that cause a series of infections). In 1927, he demonstrated the inhibitory action of the bacillus genus "Penicillium" on the proliferation of the bacteria "Staphylococcus" and "Streptococcus". Although, the discovery of penicillin has been attributed to Alexander Fleming, Picados' old laboratory notebooks from 1923 show records of the antibiosis of "Penicillium sp".

paragraph: For this reason he is renowned as one of the precursors of the penicillin antibiotic. The report with the results of the treatments performed with penicillin by Dr. Picado were published by the Biology Society of Paris in 1927.

paragraph: Section::::Honors and recognition.

paragraph: In memory of Dr. Picado's outstanding scientific work, since 1977 the Costa Rican Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT), together with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCJD) grant annually the National Award of Science and Technology "Clodomiro Picado Twight", as stimulus and recognition for the prominent scientific and technological work of Costa Rican citizens. The prize was modified in June 2000, and divided into the following two categories a year later:

paragraph: BULLET::::- National Award of Science "Clodomiro Picado Twight"

paragraph: BULLET::::- National Award of Technology "Clodomiro Picado Twight"

paragraph: Both prizes are awarded annually. The winners become creditors of a commemorative statuette of Dr. Picado, a parchment and a prize in cash.

paragraph: Picado was featured on the 2,000 colónes bill, banknote of Costa Rica.

paragraph: In 2000, Picado's daughter-in-law, Lolita González Picado, accepted the Gold Medal awarded posthumously to Picado by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

paragraph: There are several institutions and places in Costa Rica named in Picado's memory:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Clodomiro Picado Research Institute in Dulce Nombre, Coronado, San José. Established in 1970, the institute is a research unit of the Universidad de Costa Rica, responsible for the production of snake antiophidic serums and scientific research on serpents and their venoms, as well as educational and extension programs in rural areas and hospitals.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Clodomiro Picado Twight High School (known also as I.E.T.), in Turrialba, Cartago.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Clodomiro Picado Medical Clinic, in Cinco Esquinas, Tibás, San José.

paragraph: A species of Central American venomous snake, "Atropoides picadoi", is named in his honor.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Complete Biography edited by CONICIT

paragraph: BULLET::::- Clodomiro Picado Institute, Costa Rica

paragraph: BULLET::::- Official website of the National Awards of Science and Technology "Clodomiro Picado Twight", CONICIT

paragraph: BULLET::::- Winner's list of the National Awards of Science and Technology "Clodomiro Picado Twight", CONICIT

description: Costa Rican scientist

wikidata_label: Clodomiro Picado

wikipedia_title: Clodomiro Picado Twight


text: Mapudungun

text: toqui

text: Mapuche

text: Pedro de Valdivia

text: Battle of Andalien

text: Arauco

text: Tucapel

text: Penco

text: Battle of Penco

text: Jerónimo de Vivar

text: Pedro Mariño de Lobera

categories: 16th-century Mapuche people,People of the Arauco War,Captaincy General of Chile,Indigenous leaders of the Americas

paragraph: Ainavillo

paragraph: Ainavillo, Aynabillo, Aillavilu or Aillavilú, (in Mapudungun, "ailla", nine and "filu", snake) was the toqui of the Mapuche army from the provinces of "Ñuble, Itata, Renoguelen, Guachimavida, Marcande, Gualqui, Penco and Talcaguano." They tried to stop Pedro de Valdivia from invading their lands in 1550. He led about twenty thousand warriors in the surprise night attack on Valdivia's camp in the Battle of Andalien. After his defeat in that battle he gathered more warriors from the allied regions of Arauco and Tucapel, south of the Bio-Bio River, for an attack on Valdivia's newly constructed fort of Concepcion at what is now Penco. Leading an army of sixty thousand warriors in three divisions against the fort in the Battle of Penco. Ainavillo's command that had been previously defeated at Andalien, was recognized by the Spaniards and Valdivia picked it out for a vigorous charge by all their cavalry following a softening up by volleys of their firearms. It was broken at the first onslaught and fled with the Spanish in pursuit, followed by the retreat of the other two divisions of the Mapuche upon seeing the spectacle.

paragraph: Section::::Sources.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Jerónimo de Vivar, Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile (Chronicle and abundant and true relation of the kingdoms of Chile) ARTEHISTORIA REVISTA DIGITAL; Crónicas de América (on line in Spanish) Capítulos XCV and XCVII

paragraph: BULLET::::- Pedro Mariño de Lobera, Crónica del Reino de Chile, escrita por el capitán Pedro Mariño de Lobera...reducido a nuevo método y estilo por el Padre Bartolomé de Escobar. Edición digital a partir de Crónicas del Reino de Chile Madrid, Atlas, 1960, pp. 227-562, (Biblioteca de Autores Españoles ; 569-575). Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (on line in Spanish) Capítulo XXXI

description: Toqui of Mapuche army

wikidata_label: Ainavillo

wikipedia_title: Ainavillo


text: ecclesiastic

text: Abernethy

text: Perth and Kinross

text: University of Paris

text: University of Orléans

text: the arts

text: civil law

text: canon law

text: university degree

text: doctorate

text: benefice

text: Dean

text: Aberdeen Cathedral

text: the Earl of Mar

text: cathedral chapter

text: Dunblane

text: Bishop of Dunblane

text: France

text: Avignon

text: consecration

text: pope

text: benefice

text: England

text: Continental Europe

text: France

text: James Hutchison Cockburn

text: David II

text: Edward Balliol

text: Hundred Years' War

text: Château Gaillard

text: Neville's Cross

text: Coventry

text: Abernethy

text: diocese of Dunblane

text: University of Paris

text: parish church

text: Inverarity

text: Angus

text: diocese of St Andrews

text: canonry

text: prebend

text: diocese of Ross

text: Collegiate Church

text: old lay abbots and lords of Abernethy

text: B. A.

text: John de Waltirstone

text: Lent

text: the Arts

text: Master of Arts

text: civil law

text: University of Orléans

text: proctor

text: Nation

text: Avignon

text: Pope Clement VI

text: indult

text: cure

text: Doctor

text: licence

text: canon law

text: Pope Innocent VI

text: Abernethy

text: diocese of Ross

text: parish

text: Bishop of Dunblane

text: diocese of Dunkeld

text: Archdeacon of Dunblane

text: Dean

text: Aberdeen Cathedral

text: sub-deacon

text: Annibald de Ceccano

text: Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum

text: vicar

text: charter

text: Thomas, Earl of Mar

text: sheriffdom

text: Forfar

text: royal demesne

text: justice ayre

text: Kildrummy Castle

text: William de Cambuslang

text: cathedral chapter

text: Michael de Monymusk

text: Bishop of Dunkeld

text: Partick

text: Glasgow

text: William Rae

text: Bishop of Glasgow

text: arbitration

text: Margaret, Countess of Angus

text: Inchaffray Abbey

text: Abbot of Inchaffray

text: Glencarnie

text: consistorial court

text: Innerpeffry

text: Gospels

text: Earl of Strathearn

text: High Steward of Scotland

text: Perth

text: Earl of Carrick

text: King Robert III

text: Scottish national parliament

text: Kingdom of England

text: Kingdom of Norway

text: Scottish Highlands

text: Robert Stewart

text: Uilleam III, Earl of Ross

text: Edward III of England

text: Edinburgh

text: accession

text: Andrew Magnus

text: University of Saint Andrews

categories: 14th-century births,University of Paris alumni,1370s deaths,Bishops of Dunblane,14th-century Roman Catholic bishops,University of Orléans alumni

paragraph: Walter de Coventre

paragraph: Walter de Coventre (died 1371 or 1372) was a 14th-century Scottish ecclesiastic. There is no direct evidence of his birthdate, his family, or his family's origin, although he may have come from the region around Abernethy (in modern-day Perth and Kinross), where a family with the name de Coventre is known to have lived. Walter appeared in the records for the first time in the 1330s, as a student at the University of Paris. From there he went on to the University of Orléans, initially as a student before becoming a lecturer there. He studied the arts, civil law and canon law, and was awarded many university degrees, including two doctorates. His studies were paid for, at least partially, by his benefices in Scotland. Despite holding perhaps more than five benefices at one stage, he did not return to Scotland until the late 1350s.

paragraph: Following his return to Scotland, Walter soon became Dean of Aberdeen Cathedral. From there he became engaged in high-level ecclesiastical affairs with the Scottish church and political affairs with the Earl of Mar. Sometime before June 1361, the cathedral chapter of Dunblane elected him Bishop of Dunblane. He went to France to secure confirmation from the Pope at Avignon, who authorised his consecration. Walter was bishop for 10 years after returning home to Scotland. Records of his episcopate are thin, but there are enough to allow a modest reconstruction of his activities: he presided over legal disputes, issued a dispensation for an important irregular marriage, attended parliaments, and acted as an envoy of the Scottish crown in England. He died in either 1371 or 1372.

paragraph: Section::::Background.

paragraph: Walter de Coventre was typical of a new class of men in 14th-century Scotland, the university-educated career cleric from the lower nobility. Such men often acquired university education through their family resources, through the patronage of more substantial nobles, or through church influence, particularly support from the pope and his court. Patronage gave access to the resources needed to finance the considerable expense of a 14th-century university education, particularly through the presentation of benefices, gifts of land or income made by the church.

paragraph: Scotland had no universities in de Coventre's time, requiring travel either to England or Continental Europe to acquire a university education. Continental Europe, particularly France, was the favoured destination, partly because of bad relations between Scotland and England. After their university education, some Scottish graduates chose to remain abroad and teach at a foreign university or to serve the papacy; most returned to Scotland and offered their services to the king, a magnate, or an ecclesiastical institution. The ultimate reward for such services was a bishopric, which brought wealth, prestige, and a "job for life".

paragraph: Walter de Coventre's life is not well documented. There are no biographies, and no histories or chronicles devote any space to him. His activities can be traced only through a small number of incidental references in legal deeds, church documents and papal records. No modern historian has written a monograph about him, and the most extensive attempt to reconstruct his life in modern literature is a two-page entry in "Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Graduates to A.D. 1410" (1977). James Hutchison Cockburn, in his "Medieval Bishop of Dunblane and their Church" (1959) devoted seven less extensively sourced pages, but they emphasized the analysis of a few events during de Coventre's episcopate, and the events of his time.

paragraph: During most of de Coventre's recorded lifetime Scotland was ruled by King David II. Coming to the throne at age five, King David was driven into exile in France at the age of ten. In the 1330s, civil war raged in Scotland as those loyal to David fought Edward Balliol and his English backers. In some sense, the conflict became a side-show of the Hundred Years' War, and David resided at Château Gaillard in northern France for much of his exile, until he could return to Scotland in 1341. In 1346, in response to a plea from France to come to its aid, David led an army into England only to be taken prisoner at Neville's Cross; he remained in captivity until he was ransomed in 1357. David's exile in France corresponded with Walter's own period in that country, prompting one historian to suggest that Walter was part of David's court while both were in northern France, and that Walter subsequently benefited from the relationship.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Origins and personal background.

paragraph: James Hutchison Cockburn, a historian of Dunblane's medieval bishops, assumed that Walter's surname derived from the town of Coventry in England. D. E. R. Watt has suggested that the medieval settlement of "Coventre" or "Covintrie" near Abernethy in the diocese of Dunblane was the origin of the name.

paragraph: There is no direct evidence of de Coventre's family, but two other men bearing the name "de Coventre" are known to have been active during Walter's lifetime. A "John de Coventre" is found registered as a student at the University of Paris on 21 January 1331. Before December 1341, when he resigned, John de Coventre held the parish church of Inverarity, Angus, in the diocese of St Andrews. On 7 December 1345, a William de Coventre, also from the diocese of Dunblane, held a canonry and prebends (a cathedral priesthood with stipends) in the diocese of Ross and the Collegiate Church of Abernethy, when he was granted the church of Inverarity that had previously been held by John de Coventre. William thus appears to have succeeded John (and later Walter succeeded William) to all of these benefices.

paragraph: Watt suggested that all three were brothers, John the first-born, William the second-born, and Walter the youngest of the three. He further suggested that the family was probably closely connected to Margaret de Abernethy, heiress of the old lay abbots and lords of Abernethy. Margaret had patronage over both the church of Abernethy and, as probable owner of the barony of Inverarity, the church there.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Early life.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Early life.:Education.

paragraph: De Coventre received a B. A. under John de Waltirstone from the University of Paris by Lent, 1333. Although he had probably completed a Licentiate in the Arts and a Master of Arts by 1335, because of gaps in the Paris records it is not certain that he was a Master until April 1345.

paragraph: He moved on to study civil law at the University of Orléans, and by 24 March 1337, he was serving as the proctor of the Scottish Nation in Orléans. By 7 December 1345, he had received a Licentiate in Civil Law. On 20 December 1348 he was at Avignon as an envoy of his university, and while there he obtained a grace regarding his own benefice holding from Pope Clement VI. On 7 October 1349, Pope Clement granted an indult to Walter allowing him to be absent from his cure while he continued his studies at Orléans.

paragraph: He may already have been a Doctor of Civil Law by that point, because in the following year, on 22 November 1350, he is found as such acting as the Regent of Orléans presenting a candidate for licence. Having studied civil law for the highest qualification available, de Coventre moved on to canon law. By 28 March 1351, he possessed a Bachelorate in Decrees (canon law). This was perhaps why on 16 April 1353, he obtained from Pope Innocent VI another grace for himself. Precisely when he obtained his doctorate is unclear, but he was D. U. J. ("doctor utriusque juris"), Doctor of Both Laws, by 4 September 1359.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Early life.:Benefices.

paragraph: Walter's first known benefices were a canonry (with prebend) in the Collegiate Church of Abernethy and a prebend in the diocese of Ross, northern Scotland, which he was holding by 12 April 1345. None of these benefices, neither parish nor office, are known by name. While Walter would retain his Ross benefice until becoming Bishop of Dunblane, he lost his Abernethy benefice at some point between 20 December 1348 and 28 March 1351. During that period he obtained another unnamed prebend in exchange for the Abernethy prebend. Walter is only the second known canon of Abernethy Collegiate Church.

paragraph: On 12 April 1345, he was granted a canonry in the diocese of Dunkeld with expectation of a prebend, but does not appear to have obtained this in practice, although he did obtain a different Dunkeld canonry with prebend on 12 May 1352. This he retained until his consecration as Bishop of Dunblane in 1361. Walter also obtained a fourth prebend in this period. He had been pursuing a benefice in the diocese of St Andrews, and while he was granted this on 28 March 1351, the grant was still not effective by 16 April 1353, when he was granted a prebend in the diocese of Moray instead. This was not effective either, but Walter did eventually obtain a St Andrews diocese benefice, namely the church of Inverarity in Angus, which had become vacant on the death of its incumbent, William de Coventre, probably Walter's older brother. On 7 December 1345, Walter was appointed (provided) as Archdeacon of Dunblane, his most substantial benefice to date, but the appointment does not appear to have been carried through.

paragraph: Walter obtained one more benefice during this period. On 20 December 1348, he was made Dean of Aberdeen Cathedral, a high-ranking office which Walter was not technically eligible to hold without a papal grace, being only a sub-deacon in orders. The deanery had been made vacant by the death of the long-serving Gilbert Fleming. Although in July the Pope had given it as an extra prebend for Annibald de Ceccano, Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum, this had been cancelled by 20 December, when it was given to Walter instead.

paragraph: These benefices provided an income without the obligation to perform any pastoral services. Their revenues were assigned to pay for his studies, leaving poorly paid vicars to carry out the pastoral work. Walter remained as a teacher and official at Orléans, perhaps without returning to Scotland at all, until the late 1350s, by when he would have been absent from his native country for more than 25 years. In an Aberdeen document dated 12 July 1356, it was noted that he was still absent from his post.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Bishop of Dunblane.:Return to Scotland and episcopal election.

paragraph: Walter cannot be traced back in Scotland with certainty before his appearance as a witness to a charter of Thomas, Earl of Mar, on 9 July 1358. He may have returned a year earlier, as a document dated sometime between November 1357 and April 1359 records him in the sheriffdom of Forfar (royal demesne in Angus) assisting a justice ayre. He appears again on 4 September 1359, witnessing another charter of Earl Thomas at the latter's residence of Kildrummy Castle.

paragraph: Following the death in 1361 of William de Cambuslang, Bishop of Dunblane, Walter was elected by the Dunblane cathedral chapter to be the new bishop. On his election, Walter possessed no benefices in the diocese, and had had none since giving up his Abernethy prebend a decade before. However, it was probably the diocese of his birth, and he had almost become archdeacon of the diocese in 1345.

paragraph: Walter, bishop-elect, travelled to the papal court at Avignon, and was provided (appointed) as bishop by Pope Innocent on 18 June 1361. The papal letter of provision expressed displeasure that the chapter (by electing) and Walter (by accepting the election) were ignoring a previous papal reservation of the bishopric. Pope Innocent quashed the election, but nevertheless agreed to appoint (provide) Walter to the bishopric.

paragraph: Walter may have been consecrated soon after, probably by 23 August. It was on that date that he presented a roll of petitions to the Pope on behalf of several Scotsmen, including Michael de Monymusk, future Bishop of Dunkeld. On 20 September, Bishop Walter made a "promise of services" to the papacy, the first payment of which was delivered to Avignon in 1363 by Walter's proctor.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Bishop of Dunblane.:Early episcopate.

paragraph: Walter had returned to Scotland by 30 June 1362, when his presence is attested at Partick near Glasgow. The document in which Walter is mentioned recorded that William Rae, Bishop of Glasgow, along with his cathedral chapter, agreed to put a dispute to arbitration.

paragraph: The remainder of his episcopate is not well documented. His only surviving episcopal deed was issued at Abernethy on 8 February 1365. The deed authorised the reduction of canons at Abernethy Collegiate Church from ten to five, adding the consent of the patroness Margaret, Countess of Angus. These details are also recorded in a papal letter to the Bishop of St Andrews in 1373:Recently a petition of the secular Prior and Chapter [of Abernethy] for confirmation described how the [Collegiate] Church was founded by lay patrons for a prior and five canons. At a later date some of the patrons were eager to augment its rents, and the number of canons was hopefully raised to ten. No such augmentation took place, and because of wars, fires and ruin the Prior and Chapter were brought to straits. Bishop Walter, therefore, with the assent of the patrons and King David, reduced the canons to five. The changes were confirmed by the Pope on 31 October 1375, several years after Bishop Walter's death.

paragraph: A document of Inchaffray Abbey, preserved in the original (as opposed to a later copy), recorded that Bishop Walter had been involved in settling a dispute involving Inchaffray, an abbey which lay in his diocese. Inchaffray's dispute was with Naomhán Mac Eóghainn (Nevin MacEwen) and his wife Mairead (Mariota). Under Abbot Symon de Scone, previous Abbot of Inchaffray, the abbey had given some lands in exchange for 40 marks to Mairead's father Maol Mhuire (Malmoran) of Glencarnie.

paragraph: Under the new abbot, Abbot John, the abbey sought the return of those lands. The case appears to have gone to Bishop Walter's consistorial court, which he held at the chapel of Innerpeffry. Here Naomhán and Mairead agreed to accept a payment of 40 marks in exchange for returning the documents of ownership given to them by the abbot and for acknowledging the abbey's ownership. The couple pledged to honour the agreement by swearing an oath on the chapel's Gospels. The case then proceeded to a hearing held under Robert Stewart, Earl of Strathearn and High Steward of Scotland (later King Robert II), at Perth, where the couple were forced under the threat of severe penalties to swear again never to renew their claim. The decision was sealed by the witnesses, including Bishop Walter, at a Perth church on 30 November 1365.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.:Bishop of Dunblane.:Final years.

paragraph: On 13 March 1366, Walter was commissioned by the papacy to authorise dispensation for the irregular marriage between John Stewart, Earl of Carrick (much later King Robert III) and Annabella Drummond.

paragraph: Bishop Walter attended at least five meetings of the Scottish national parliament during his episcopate. He was present at the Scone parliament of 27 September 1367, which discussed royal revenues and relations with the English crown. He was also present at the Scone parliament of June 1368, and the Perth parliament of 6 March 1369; the latter discussed royal business, relations with the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Norway, and law and order in the Scottish Highlands. Robert Stewart, Thomas, Earl of Mar, Uilleam III, Earl of Ross, and other Highland lords, were ordered to impose greater control in their regions. Bishop Walter took part in two parliamentary committees, the first a clerical committee devoted to general business, and the second a judicial committee authorised to review earlier legal judgments in the kingdom.

paragraph: The parliament's discussions on Anglo-Scottish relations preceded peace negotiations later in the year, at which Bishop Walter was one of the Scottish envoys. There was some urgency behind the matter, in view of the impending end to the five-year Anglo-Scottish truce agreed by King Edward III of England on 20 May 1365. King David travelled to London, where he resided in May and June, in order to take part in the negotiations. Walter and the rest of the embassy, which included four other bishops, were in London by June 1369, the month in which Edward agreed to a new truce. When it was ratified by the Scots at Edinburgh on 20 July, Bishop Walter was again present, as a witness.

paragraph: Walter attended the Perth parliament of 18 February 1370, and was named as one of the members of a special committee "for the deliberation concerning the consideration of common justice". He is mentioned for the last time swearing fealty to the new king, Robert II, at his accession parliament at Scone on 27 March 1371. Walter de Coventre must have died later in 1371 or in very early 1372, because on 27 April 1372, the Pope appointed Andrew Magnus to the vacant bishopric of Dunblane.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707" On-line database prepared by the Scottish Parliament Project of the University of Saint Andrews. Cited as RPS, with date.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

description: Scottish ecclesiastic

wikidata_label: Walter de Coventre

wikipedia_title: Walter de Coventre


text: Thebes

text: Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt

text: mummified

text: Ulster Museum

text: Belfast

text: Belfast Natural History Society

text: Edward Hincks

text: Ireland

text: hieroglyph

text: Taseniric

text: Amun

text: beetle

text: N. mumiarum

text: Dermestes maculatus

text: Dermestes frischi

text: linen

categories: Ancient Egyptian women,Ancient Egyptian mummies,7th-century BC Egyptian people

paragraph: Takabuti

paragraph: Takabuti was a married woman who reached an age of between twenty and thirty years. She lived in the Egyptian city of Thebes at the end of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt. Her mummified body and mummy case are in the Ulster Museum, Belfast. The coffin was opened and the mummy unrolled on 27 January 1835 in Belfast Natural History Society’s museum at College Square North. Edward Hincks, a leading Egyptologist from Ireland was present and deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphs which revealed that she was mistress of a great house. Her mother’s name was Taseniric and her father was a priest of Amun. She was buried in a cemetery west of Thebes.

paragraph: After the Napoleonic Wars there was a brisk trade in Egyptian mummies. Takabuti was purchased in 1834 by Thomas Greg of Ballymenoch House, Holywood, Co. Down. At that time, the unwrapping of a mummy was of considerable scientific interest (as well as curiosity) and later studies revealed beetles later identified as "N. mumiarum" Hope, 1834, Dermestes maculatus DeGeer, 1774 (as Dermestes vulpinus) and Dermestes frischi Kugelann, 1792 (as "Dermestes pollinctus" Hope, 1834). The painted coffin was itself of considerable interest and the wrappings of fine linen were given much attention in the town that was the commercial centre of the Irish linen industry. One hundred and seventy years later Takabuti remains a popular attraction for visitors, young and old.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Photo of Takabuti and her coffin at the Ulster Museum

paragraph: BULLET::::- The Ulster Archaeological Society The UAS Newsletter June 2005 (Word document)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Transactions Entomological Society of London:1835

description: Mummified Ancient Egyptian

wikidata_label: Takabuti

wikipedia_title: Takabuti