text: British

text: South Shields

text: Trinity College, Cambridge

text: called to the bar

text: Inner Temple

text: Thomas Edward Scrutton

text: London School of Economics

text: took silk

text: 1923 General election

text: Liberal

text: Darlington constituency

text: High Court

text: King's Bench Division

text: knighthood

text: Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

text: life peer

text: House of Lords

text: Viscount Sankey

text: Master of the Rolls

text: GCMG

text: United Nations War Crimes Commission

text: Bell v Lever Brothers Ltd

text: Rex v Wallace

text: Royal Mail Case

text: Hillas & Co v Arcos

text: UKHL 2

text: The Liesbosch v The Edison

text: Lindsey County Council v Marshall

text: Grant v Australian Knitting Mills

text: With v O’Flanagan

text: Lord Atkin

text: Spense v Crawford

text: Southern Foundries (1926) Ltd v Shirlaw

text: Luxor (Eastborne) Ltd v Cooper

text: Liversidge v Anderson

text: collective bargaining

text: Muir v. Glasgow Corporation

text: unjust enrichment

text: Joyce v DPP

text: William Joyce

text: Treason Act 1351

categories: Law lords,Masters of the Rolls,Fellows of the British Academy,Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge,1964 deaths,Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George,Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,Knights Bachelor,Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom,Academics of the London School of Economics,Members of the Inner Temple,1869 births,Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge

paragraph: Robert Wright, Baron Wright

paragraph: Robert Alderson Wright, Baron Wright, (15 October 1869 – 27 June 1964) was a British judge.

paragraph: Section::::Early life and career.

paragraph: Born in South Shields, Wright was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a First and later held a prize fellowship. He was called to the bar in 1900 by the Inner Temple and practiced at the commercial bar, having joined the chambers of Thomas Edward Scrutton. He also lectured on industrial law at the London School of Economics. He took silk in 1917.

paragraph: At the 1923 General election, he stood as the Liberal candidate in the Darlington constituency. The Liberals, who had not contested the seat at the previous election, were not expected to win and he came last. He did not stand for Parliament again.

paragraph: Section::::Judicial career.

paragraph: In 1925, Wright was appointed to the High Court (King's Bench Division) as a judge, receiving the customary knighthood. On 11 April 1932, he was appointed Lord of Appeal in Ordinary and was created additionally a life peer with the title Baron Wright, of Durley in the County of Wiltshire. His translation from the High Court directly to the House of Lords was unusual, and was masterminded by the Lord Chancellor, the Viscount Sankey. However, he resigned as Lord of Appeal in 1935. becoming instead Master of the Rolls, a post he held until 1937, when he was made Lord of Appeal in Ordinary again. He retired in 1947, and was appointed GCMG in 1948.

paragraph: In 1945 he was the Chairman of the United Nations War Crimes Commission.

paragraph: Section::::Cases.

paragraph: Section::::Cases.:As a trial judge.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Bell v Lever Brothers Ltd", in which he was reversed by the House of Lords.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Rex v Wallace" [1931] 23 Cr App R 32, A famous murder case, the verdict being overturned on appeal.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "R v Kylsant & Otrs", known as the Royal Mail Case.

paragraph: Section::::Cases.:As an appellate judge.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Hillas & Co v Arcos" [1932] UKHL 2

paragraph: BULLET::::- "The Liesbosch v The Edison" (1933) ‘The law cannot take account of everything that follows a wrongful act’

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Lindsey County Council v Marshall" (1936)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Wilsons and Clyde Coal Company v English" (1937) give due regard to the actual conditions under which men work in a factory or mine, at the long hours and the fatigue, to the slackening of attention which naturally comes from constant repetition of the same operation, to the noise and confusion in which the man works, to his preoccupation in what he is actually doing at the cost perhaps of some inattention to his own safety.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Grant v Australian Knitting Mills" [1936] AC 85

paragraph: BULLET::::- "With v O’Flanagan" [1936] Ch 575

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Attorney-General for Canada v Attorney-General for Ontario" (1937), where a panel chaired by Lord Atkin struck down the Canadian New Deal, including the federal social security system and the minimum wage, as he later admitted, Wright dissented. (At that time dissents could not be recorded publicly.) Canada then abandoned appeals to London.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Spense v Crawford" (1939)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Lowry v Consolidated African Selection Trust Ltd" [1940] AC 648, directors' duty to get best price for shares

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Southern Foundries (1926) Ltd v Shirlaw" [1940] AC 701

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Luxor (Eastborne) Ltd v Cooper" (1940) ‘the duty of the court is to construe such documents fairly and broadly, without being too astute or subtle in finding defects’

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Liversidge v Anderson" (1941), while Atkin dissented over the suspension of habeas corpus.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Joseph Constantine SS Line Ltd v Imperial Smelting Corp" (1941)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Crofter Hand Woven Harris Tweed Co v Veitch" [1942] AC 435, a famous statement that workers have the right to strike in support of their interests and to engage in collective bargaining.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Muir v. Glasgow Corporation", in which he helped clarify the principle of negligence by saying that a duty of care was only breached if somebody did something which was "obviously and inherently dangerous": as the case revolved around a tea-urn, he made the amusing remark that "to introduce a savage animal such as a lion or tiger would be obviously and inherently dangerous, but not a tea-urn"

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Fibrosa Spolka Akcyjna v Fairbairn Lawson Combe Barbour Ltd" [1943] AC 32, 61, recognising the basis of unjust enrichment. "It is clear that any civilised system of law is bound to provide remedies for cases of what has been called unjust enrichment or unjust benefit, that is to prevent a man from retaining the money of or some benefit derived from another which it is against conscience that he should keep."

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Joyce v DPP" [1946] AC 347, the appeal of William Joyce, aka Lord Haw-Haw, against his conviction of Adherence to the King's enemies without the realm under the Treason Act 1351.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- N Duxbury, 'Lord Wright and Innovative Traditionalism' (2009) 59 University of Toronto Law Journal 265-340.

description: Lord of Appeal in Ordinary

wikidata_label: Robert Wright, Baron Wright

wikipedia_title: Robert Wright, Baron Wright


text:
Istanbul
Turkey
Turkish
Sephardic Jewish
Joaquín Rodrigo
Viñes
Aranjuez

categories: Musicians from Istanbul,Sephardi Jews,Turkish women pianists,Spanish people of Turkish descent,1905 births,1997 deaths,20th-century women musicians,Turkish Jews,Turkish pianists,Turkish expatriates in Spain,20th-century pianists

paragraph: Victoria Kamhi

paragraph: Victoria Kamhi de Rodrigo, Marquise of the Jardines de Aranjuez (1905 Istanbul, Turkey – 21 July 1997) was a Turkish pianist of Sephardic Jewish heritage, and the wife of the Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo.

paragraph: Kamhi studied under Lalewicz, Lévy and Viñes. She met Rodrigo in 1929, and they were married on 19 January 1933. They lived in France and Germany before returning to Spain in 1939.

paragraph: Kamhi left her career as a pianist. She was a notable assistant of the blind composer and wrote the biographical work "De la mano de Joaquín Rodrigo: Historia de nuestra vida". It has been translated into English as "Hand in Hand with Joaquín Rodrigo: My Life at the Maestro's Side."

paragraph: The sole child of Kamhi and Rodrigo was Cecilia, who was born in January 1941. Cecilia later married the violinist Agustín León Ara and gave birth to Cecilita and Patricia, the granddaughters of Kamhi and Rodrigo.

paragraph: Kamhi died in 1997, about two years before Rodrigo. Both are buried in Aranjuez.

description: Turkish pianist

wikidata_label: Victoria Kamhi

wikipedia_title: Victoria Kamhi


text:
Catholic
Gunpowder Plot
King James I
House of Lords
State Opening of Parliament
Robert Catesby
Warwickshire
hanged, drawn and quartered
Staveley
Derbyshire
Ambrose Rookwood
Henry Mordaunt, 4th Baron Mordaunt
Drayton
Northamptonshire
King James I
Queen Elizabeth I
Robert Catesby
Ashby St Ledgers
House of Lords
Princess Elizabeth
John Gerard
Oswald Tesimond
Cyril Northcote Parkinson
Guy Fawkes
Lord Mordaunt
Thomas Percy
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Montague
Monteagle
Temple Bar
fuse
Highgate
Thomas Bates
John
Christopher Wright
Oswald Tesimond
Westminster
hanged, drawn and quartered

categories: 17th-century English people,English criminals,17th-century Roman Catholics,16th-century English people,1560s births,Roman Catholic activists,16th-century Roman Catholics,1606 deaths,People executed by Stuart England by hanging, drawing and quartering,Executed Gunpowder Plotters,Date of birth unknown,English Roman Catholics,People of the Tudor period

paragraph: Robert Keyes

paragraph: Robert Keyes was a member of the group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a conspiracy to assassinate King James I by blowing up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on 5 November 1605. He was the sixth man to join the plot.

paragraph: Unlike several other conspirators Keyes was not a particularly wealthy man. He was trusted by Robert Catesby, the plot's author, with guarding the explosives stored at the latter's lodgings in London. When the plot was uncovered he fled the city, and was captured several days later in Warwickshire. He was tried with his co-conspirators, found guilty, and in January 1606 hanged, drawn and quartered.

paragraph: Section::::Life before 1604.

paragraph: Born in about 1565, Robert Keyes was the son of the Protestant Rector of Staveley in North Derbyshire. His mother was a daughter of Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Kettleby in Lincolnshire, and related to the Catholic Babthorpes of Osgodby. Keyes' first cousin Elizabeth Tyrrwhitt was married to another member of the plot, Ambrose Rookwood. By 1604, Robert had converted to Catholicism. His wife Christina, a widow when he married her, was the governess for the children of Henry Mordaunt, 4th Baron Mordaunt, at Drayton in Northamptonshire, and for this Keyes gained the use of horses and other amenities.

paragraph: Section::::Gunpowder Plot.

paragraph: English Catholics had hoped that the persecution of their faith would end when the apparently more tolerant King James I succeeded Queen Elizabeth I, but Robert Catesby, a Catholic zealot from Ashby St Ledgers, remained unimpressed by the new royal dynasty. He therefore planned to kill James by blowing up the House of Lords with gunpowder, following which he would help incite a popular revolt to install James's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, as titular Queen. His role being to guard the gunpowder and other items stored at Catesby's house in Lambeth, Keyes joined the conspiracy in October 1604.

paragraph: The Jesuit priest John Gerard described Keyes as "a grave and sober man, and of great wit and sufficiency". Father Oswald Tesimond claimed that Keyes had "tasted persecution himself, having lost his goods because of it" while historian and author Cyril Northcote Parkinson's image of him was of a "desperate man, ruined and indebted". Tall, with a red beard, despite his relative poverty Catesby declared him "a trusty honest man", and may have paid him for his services. Like fellow plotter Guy Fawkes, he was thought capable of looking after himself. Several conspirators expressed concerns about the safety of fellow Catholics who would be at Parliament on the day of the planned explosion; Keyes was particularly worried about Lord Mordaunt, his wife's employer. Thomas Percy was concerned for his patron, Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, and the Lords Vaux, Montague, Monteagle and Stourton were also mentioned. Keyes's suggestion to warn Lord Mordaunt was treated by Catesby with derision, when he answered that "he would not for the chamber full of diamonds acquaint him with the secret, for that he knew he could not keep it."

paragraph: Keyes and his cousin-in-law Ambrose Rookwood spent the night before the planned explosion at the house of an Elizabeth More, near Temple Bar. They were visited late that evening by Fawkes (in charge of the explosives beneath the House of Lords) who collected a watch left by Percy, for timing the fuse. Several hours later Fawkes was discovered guarding the explosives, and was arrested.

paragraph: Section::::Failure and death.

paragraph: When Keyes heard that Fawkes had been captured he took to his horse and fled for the Midlands. He was overtaken at Highgate by Rookwood, who was rushing to inform Catesby and the others of what had transpired. After he and Rookwood had caught up with Catesby, Percy, Thomas Bates, and John and Christopher Wright, Keyes left the group, and headed instead for Lord Mordaunt's house at Drayton, where he went to ground. He was identified as a suspect on 6 November, and captured several days later.

paragraph: The conspirators were tried on 27 January 1606 at Westminster Hall. Despite entering pleas of not guilty (only Digby professed his guilt), all eight were found guilty. They were each allowed to speak "wherefore judgement of death should not be pronounced against them". Keyes made no attempt to excuse his actions, claiming that "death was as good now as at any other time", preferable to living "in the midst of so much tyranny". The Jesuit Oswald Tesimond wrote in his "Narrative" of Keyes's defence:

paragraph: On 31 January 1606 Keyes, Rookwood, Thomas Wintour and Fawkes were taken to the Old Palace Yard in Westminster, to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Rookwood and Wintour were the first to ascend to the gallows. Grim-faced, Keyes went "stoutly" up the ladder, but with the halter around his neck he threw himself off, presumably hoping for a quick death. The halter broke, and he was taken to the block to suffer the remainder of his sentence.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bibliography

description: English criminal

wikidata_label: Robert Keyes

wikipedia_title: Robert Keyes


text: highwaymen

text: King Charles II

text: Kent

text: York

text: alibi

text: William Harrison Ainsworth

text: Rookwood

text: Dick Turpin

text: Wortley

text: South Yorkshire

text: Battle of Dunkirk

text: Newark-on-Trent

text: Great North Road

text: Huntingdon

text: Tuxford

text: Wentbridge

text: Rochester, Kent

text: Thames

text: Chelmsford

text: Cambridge

text: Lord Mayor

text: bowls

text: Sandal Magna

text: Wakefield

text: Batley

text: Knavesmire

text: St Mary's Church, Castlegate

text: Fletcher, J. S.

text: William Nevison The Newgate Calendar

categories: Executed people from South Yorkshire,1639 births,1684 deaths,People executed by the Kingdom of England by hanging,People from Wortley, South Yorkshire,English highwaymen,People executed for murder,People executed by Stuart England

paragraph: John Nevison

paragraph: John Nevison (1639 – 4 May 1684), also known as William Nevison or Nevinson, was one of Britain's most notorious highwaymen, a gentleman rogue supposedly nicknamed "Swift Nick" by King Charles II after a renowned dash from Kent to York to establish an alibi for a robbery he had committed earlier that day. The story inspired William Harrison Ainsworth to include a modified version in his novel "Rookwood", in which he attributed the feat to Dick Turpin. There are suggestions that the feat was actually undertaken by Samuel Nicks.

paragraph: Section::::History.

paragraph: Nevison was born in 1639, probably in Wortley in present-day South Yorkshire. He ran away from home at the age of 13 or 14 and may have ended up in London. Forced to flee to Holland to evade the authorities he enrolled in the Duke of York's army and took part in the 1658 Battle of Dunkirk. After his discharge he returned to England and took care of his father for several years before adopting the same profession as many of his contemporary ex-soldiers, that of a highwayman. Basing himself around Newark-on-Trent, he targeted those travelling along the Great North Road between Huntingdon in the south and York to the north.

paragraph: In the mid-1670s his activities were under investigation and he was associated with men named Edmund Bracy, Thomas Wilbore, Thomas Tankerd, John Bromett, and William (or Robert) Everson and John Brace or Bracy, which may have been his alias. The robbers used safe houses at Tuxford and Wentbridge and divided their spoils at the Talbot Inn at Newark. Nevison developed a reputation as a gentleman highwayman, never using violence against his victims, always polite, and only robbing the rich.

paragraph: The famous ride from Kent to York took place in 1676, after Nevison had robbed a traveller at Gad's Hill, near Rochester, Kent. Nevison escaped, using a ferry to cross the Thames and galloped via Chelmsford, Cambridge and Huntingdon to York some from the scene of the crime. He arrived at sunset and ensured he met the city's Lord Mayor, entering into a wager on a bowls match. When he was arrested and tried for the Gad's Hill robbery, he produced the Lord Mayor to support his alibi and was found not guilty.

paragraph: Nevison was tried and convicted for the theft of a horse and highway robbery at York assizes in 1677. He was imprisoned in York Castle but, on offering to inform against his accomplices was pardoned and was to be transported. In 1681 he was taken from gaol to be enlisted in a company of soldiers bound for Tangier but escaped. A reward of £20 was offered for his recapture.

paragraph: He was arrested on 6 March 1684 at the Three Houses Inn in Sandal Magna near Wakefield and tried for the murder of Darcy Fletcher, a constable who had tried to arrest him near Howley Hall at Soothill in Batley. He was taken to York where, because he had breached his pardon, was "told him he must dye, for he was a terrour to the country". Nevison was hanged at the Knavesmire on 4 May 1684 and buried in an unmarked grave in St Mary's Church, Castlegate.

paragraph: Section::::Further reading.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Fletcher, J. S. (1917) "Memorials of a Yorkshire Parish" facsimile published by Old Hall Press, Leeds 1993

paragraph: BULLET::::- Padgett, Lorenzo (1905) "Chronicles of Old Pontefract" facsimile published by Old Hall Press, Leeds 1993

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- William Nevison The Newgate Calendar

paragraph: BULLET::::- Swift Nick Nevison the Highwayman – A Yorkshire Legend

description: English highwayman

wikidata_label: John Nevison

wikipedia_title: John Nevison


text:
pilot
licence
Mexico City
Germany
quantum chemistry
World War I
quantum chemist
Mexico
Stinson SR Reliant
Aeroméxico
Mexico City
Acapulco
Acapulco

categories: People from Mexico City,1962 deaths,Mexican aviators,1892 births,Aeroméxico

paragraph: Julio Zinser

paragraph: Julio Zinser was the first pilot in Mexican history to have a licence. It was not until 1934 that the first Commertial Pilot Applications ever to be issued by any Certified Issuers were issued and the first one registered as Folio AAA-000-000-001.

paragraph: Section::::Life.

paragraph: Born on January 14, 1892 in Mexico City at six months of age he moved with his parents to Germany, where he studied quantum chemistry. He lived in Germany until World War I still wanting to be a quantum chemist. When the war started in 1914, he moved back to Mexico where he studied aviation in a military school. He got his military license in 1932 and in 1934 he received the first ever commercial license to be issued in Mexico. Then he soughta to buy a plane, a Stinson SR Reliant (registered XB-AJI) ,so he contacted Antonio Diaz Lombardo, the founder and owner of Aeronaves de Mexico (now Aeroméxico). Zisner flew the Stinson SR Reliant during its maiden flight which was to be the first flight ever of Aeronaves de Mexico on on the route from Mexico City to Acapulco. From that point on he was piloting aircraft until he retired in 1953 at the age of 61 and lived in his residence in Acapulco until he died of natural causes on December 29, 1962 at 70 years of age.

wikidata_label: Julio Zinser

wikipedia_title: Julio Zinser


text:
entrepreneur
Quebec
entrepreneur
e-commerce
Quebecor
Publicis
Stingray Digital
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Dans l'œil du dragon
Dragon's Den
venture capital
Stephen Bronfman
Voir
Quebec Liberal Party
2018 Quebec general election
National Assembly
Pierre Karl Péladeau
Parti Québecois
L'actualité

categories: French Quebecers,Quebecor,Canadian mass media owners,Businesspeople from Montreal,Living people

paragraph: Alexandre Taillefer

paragraph: Alexandre Taillefer is a Canadian entrepreneur from Quebec. He is the founder and managing partner of XPND Capital, a private equity firm.

paragraph: Section::::Early career.

paragraph: At 21, Taillefer became an entrepreneur, founding, in 1993, Intellia, an e-commerce service provider later bought by Quebecor, the largest media conglomerate in Quebec.

paragraph: Taillefer worked at Quebecor for five years (until 2000), where he led the online division. He completed a number of mergers, including the merger of Informission with Intellia to create Nurun, now owned by Publicis.

paragraph: Section::::Stingray Digital and Latter Ventures.

paragraph: In 2007, he co-founded Stingray Digital, a provider of musical products and services, now one of the largest publicly traded companies headquartered in Quebec.

paragraph: In 2012, Taillefer became chairman of the board of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.

paragraph: From 2013 to 2016, he was a "dragon" (French for dragon) on the TV show "Dans l'œil du dragon, the Quebec version of Dragon's Den."

paragraph: Taillefer is managing partner of XPND Capital, a private equity firm. The firm manages some 40 million dollars across several venture capital funds. While the firm initially partnered with Stephen Bronfman and his private equity firm Claridge, all of the capital in latter funds has come from the Quebec government. Taillefer was criticized for sub-par returns in funds which consist solely of public money. In 2015, the firm acquired Voir, a major Quebec publisher. Also in 2015, the firm created Taxelco, a holding company which controls over 40% of the taxi market in Montreal, through controlling investments in Téo Taxi, Taxi Diamond, and Taxi Hochelaga.

paragraph: Taillefer has, from time to time, voiced his political positions. In 2015, he voiced his support for a $15 minimum wage. In May 2017, he encouraged the Quebec government to invest in subsidized childcare.

paragraph: Section::::Political career.

paragraph: Alexandre Taillefer served as the campaign chair for the Quebec Liberal Party in the 2018 Quebec general election. He did not run for a seat in the National Assembly. His position as campaign chair for the party in power and as a major shareholder of Quebec media companies generated concerns regarding his potential use of the media to promote the Liberal Party. Similar concerns resulted from the election of Pierre Karl Péladeau as Parti Québecois leader. In an effort to respond to these concerns, Taillefer transitioned out of his managerial responsibilities.

paragraph: L'actualité, a Quebec media outlet announced on May 10, 2018 that Taillefer had been a registered lobbyist to seek subsidies for his taxi companies.

wikidata_label: Alexandre Taillefer

wikipedia_title: Alexandre Taillefer


text:
glossator
Piacenza
University of Bologna
University of Montpellier

categories: 12th-century jurists,1192 deaths,Italian jurists,Year of birth unknown

paragraph: Placentinus

paragraph: Placentinus (died 1192) was an Italian jurist and glossator. Originally from Piacenza, he taught at the University of Bologna. From there he founded the law school of the University of Montpellier, in 1160.

description: Italian jurist

wikidata_label: Placentinus

wikipedia_title: Placentinus


text: bishop

text: St. Louis, Missouri

text: Overland, Missouri

text: Cardinal Glennon College

text: Pontifical North American College

text: Angelicum University

text: Saint Charles Borromeo Parish

text: Archdiocese of Westminster

text: priest

text: Archdiocese of Saint Louis

text: Webster Groves, Missouri

text: Archdiocese of Saint Louis

text: Washington, Missouri

text: Saint Louis University

text: Pope John Paul II

text: Justin Francis Rigali

text: diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph

text: Knights of Columbus

text: Priestly Society of the Holy Cross

text: personal prelature

text: Opus Dei

text: Benedictine

text: Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

text: sanctification of priests

text: U.S. Attorney

text: Todd P. Graves

text: grand jury

text: misdemeanor

text: Terrence Prendergast

text: Pope Francis

text: SNAP

text: Sean O'Malley

text: Lincoln, Nebraska

text: Tridentine Mass

text: Pope John Paul II

text: Freedom of Choice Act

text: Catholic Church hierarchy

text: Catholic Church in the United States

categories: Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the United States,Clergy from St. Louis,Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis,American Roman Catholic bishops,Pontifical North American College alumni,21st-century Roman Catholic bishops,Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas alumni,Roman Catholic bishops of Kansas City–Saint Joseph,Kenrick–Glennon Seminary alumni,1953 births,Living people,Saint Louis University alumni

paragraph: Robert Finn (bishop)

paragraph: Robert William Finn (born April 2, 1953) is a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He was formerly bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, where he served from May 24, 2005 until he was compelled to resign on April 21, 2015. Finn is the only U.S. bishop to be convicted of the crime of failure to report a priest suspected of child sex abuse to government authorities.

paragraph: Section::::Early life and ordination.

paragraph: Finn was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 2, 1953, the second of five children of Theodore (Pat) and Betty Schneider Finn. His family includes three sisters—Mrs. Kathleen Fornwalt, Chesterfield, Missouri; Mrs. Patricia Bax, St. Charles, Missouri; and Mrs. Nancy Meyer, Maryland Heights, Missouri—and one brother, Richard Finn, of Keller, Texas. Bishop Finn completed his elementary education at All Souls Catholic School in Overland, Missouri.

paragraph: Finn studied for the priesthood at archdiocesan seminaries and in Rome. He is a 1971 graduate of St. Louis Preparatory Seminary North, and received a B.A. in Philosophy at Cardinal Glennon College in 1975. While a seminarian at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, he earned a Master's in Theology in 1979 from the Angelicum University. He served as a deacon in 1978-79 at Saint Charles Borromeo Parish, in the Archdiocese of Westminster. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Saint Louis at All Souls Parish Church on July 7, 1979.

paragraph: Bishop Finn Served as Pastor at Our Holy Redeemer Church in Webster Groves, Missouri, prior to being appointed the coadjutor bishop of Kansas City.

paragraph: Section::::Pastoral work.

paragraph: Finn's first assignments were as associate pastor of two parishes in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. He later was appointed to the faculty of Saint Francis Borgia Regional High School in Washington, Missouri, where he taught from 1983 to 1989. During those years, he lived in residence and served as part-time pastoral associate in area parishes.

paragraph: In 1989, Finn received a Master's in Education Administration from Saint Louis University and was appointed administrator of St. Dominic High School in O'Fallon, Missouri. During his tenure at St. Dominic's, he assisted the pastors of area parishes. He served the St. Dominic High School community until 1996.

paragraph: In 1996, he was appointed Director of Continuing Formation of Priests and, in 1999, while continuing as CFP Director, he was named editor of the "St. Louis Review", the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis.

paragraph: Finn was named by Pope John Paul II a chaplain to His Holiness in August 2003, upon the recommendation of the Archbishop of St. Louis, Justin Francis Rigali, who had named him to the posts he was then exercising (the honor was bestowed while he was still serving as CFP Director and editor of the "St. Louis Review"; Finn received the title of Reverend Monsignor). Finn served in several other capacities including chairman of the Archdiocesan Committee on the Diaconate.

paragraph: Section::::Bishop.

paragraph: Finn was named coadjutor bishop (with right of succession) of the diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph and was consecrated on May 3, 2004, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Kansas City. He is also now a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. On May 24, 2005, the Vatican accepted Bishop Boland's request for retirement. As Coadjutor, Bishop Finn automatically succeeded him as sixth bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

paragraph: Finn became a member of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, which is linked to the Catholic personal prelature Opus Dei. In an interview with the "Catholic Key", Finn told of how Opus Dei had helped open his heart to the work of the Holy Spirit.

paragraph: Upon his arrival in the diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph in 2005, Finn said that vocations to the priesthood and religious life would be seen as a 'super-priority' for his diocese. Under his guidance, the diocese continued to pour considerable spiritual, human, and financial resources into efforts to encourage vocations. Before Finn's arrival, in the 2003/2004 seminary school year, the diocese reported having nine seminarians. For 2007/2008, the diocese reported that there were 24 men studying for diocesan priesthood. In March 2006, Finn invited to his diocese a small order of Benedictine nuns, now titled Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. The entire order moved from its place of founding, Scranton, PA. With a contemplative charism of praying and sacrificing for the sanctification of priests, in addition to operating a vestment design company called "House of Ephesus", these nuns saw their numbers rise quickly in recent years.

paragraph: , Finn served on the Administrative and the Priorities and Plans Committees for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and had been chairman of the Bishop's "Task Force on the Life and Dignity of the Human Person".

paragraph: Section::::Bishop.:Apology for lack of intervention.

paragraph: In May 2011, Finn apologized for his failure to act in a more timely manner in the case of a priest accused of engaging in inappropriate behavior with children. Finn told reporters that he failed to read a letter sent to the diocese a year earlier (May 2010) by a Catholic elementary school principal who was reporting numerous instances of inappropriate behavior. Finn's admission came five months after the diocese discovered questionable pictures of children on the Reverend Shawn Francis Ratigan's computer, and a week after the priest was arrested on child pornography charges.

paragraph: Section::::Bishop.:Independent investigation.

paragraph: On June 9, 2011, Finn appointed former U.S. Attorney Todd P. Graves to conduct an independent investigation of diocesan policies and procedures used to address sexual misconduct by church personnel including the case of Shawn Ratigan. Graves was the national co-chairman of the U.S. Justice Department's Child Exploitation Working Group. Finn also announced the appointment of an independent public liaison and ombudsman.

paragraph: In the report issued in September 2011, Graves said the key finding of the investigation was "that Diocesan leaders failed to follow their own policies and procedures for responding to reports" of sexual abuse by clergy.

paragraph: The Kansas City diocese waited five months to inform police that inappropriate pictures of children at a diocesan school were found on the Reverend Shawn Francis Ratigan's computer. During that time, the diocese did not inform the community of this discovery and Ratigan took more inappropriate pictures of children he knew through church contacts.

paragraph: The indictment charged Finn with failing to inform police about child pornography found on Ratigan's computer. According to the indictment, the diocese was made aware of those images on December 16, 2010. Rather than reporting it, Finn ordered Ratigan to undergo psychiatric evaluation, then sent him to a convent under orders to have no contact with children. Without Finn's approval to do so, church officials reported Ratigan's actions on May 11, 2011 after learning that he had continued to take lewd pictures of children. Ratigan eventually pleaded guilty to five counts of producing child pornography and was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.

paragraph: On October 14, 2011, a county grand jury indicted both the Diocese and Finn personally for failure to report suspected child abuse, a criminal misdemeanor. While other bishops had been charged with directly perpetrating abuse, Finn was the first U.S. bishop to be charged in his role as a supervisor of priests, the first criminal case against a sitting bishop in the child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Finn was convicted on one charge in September 2012 and sentenced to two years of probation. All charges against the Diocese itself were dropped.

paragraph: Section::::Criminal conviction for failure to report suspected child abuse.:Investigation by Vatican and resignation.

paragraph: In September 2014, the Vatican initiated an investigation into Finn's tenure as bishop, conducted by Canadian archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa at the request of Pope Francis. The director of SNAP called the investigation "overdue".

paragraph: Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the leader of a church commission on child abuse cases, made critical remarks regarding Bishop Finn's actions. In an interview with the television news program 60 Minutes, O'Malley said that Bishop Finn's conviction for failing to report suspected child abuse would disqualify him from teaching Sunday school in the Boston archdiocese. "It's a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently," O'Malley said.

paragraph: The Vatican announced that Finn had resigned from the Diocese of Kansas City on April 21, 2015.

paragraph: Section::::Subsequent activities.

paragraph: In 2016, Finn became chaplain of the School Sisters of Christ the King Convent in Lincoln, Nebraska. He offers Mass, hears confessions, and serves as a spiritual advisor for over 30 nuns. He has remained in this role as of July 2018, despite making occasional public appearances.

paragraph: Section::::Views.

paragraph: Section::::Views.:Tridentine Mass.

paragraph: In August 2005, Finn encouraged use of the Tridentine Mass in his diocese in accord with Indult provisions established during Pope John Paul II's tenure, and welcomed the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest to the diocese to celebrate Mass at St. Patrick's Oratory, the city's oldest church.

paragraph: Section::::Views.:Statement on the 2008 presidential election.

paragraph: In a pastoral letter published in the October 24, 2008, issue of the diocesan newspaper, "The Catholic Key", referencing the upcoming presidential election, Finn wrote: "Our Catholic moral principles teach that a candidate’s promise of economic prosperity is insufficient to justify their constant support of abortion laws, including partial-birth abortion, and infanticide for born-alive infants. Promotion of the Freedom of Choice Act is a pledge to eliminate every single limit on abortions achieved over the last thirty-five years. The real freedom that is ours in Jesus Christ compels us, not to take life, but to defend it."

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Catholic Church hierarchy

paragraph: BULLET::::- Catholic Church in the United States

paragraph: BULLET::::- Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States

paragraph: BULLET::::- List of Catholic bishops of the United States

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Biography of Bishop Finn at the Diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph website

paragraph: BULLET::::- Roman Catholic Diocese of Kansas City–Saint Joseph Official Site

description: Catholic bishop

wikidata_label: Robert Finn

wikipedia_title: Robert Finn (bishop)


text: Brazil

text: prelate

text: Roman Catholic Church

text: Traditionalist Catholic

text: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

text: Bishop

text: Campos

text: excommunication

text: illicit consecration of four bishops

text: Society of St. Pius X

text: Holy See

text: Campinas

text: São Paulo

text: Bavaria

text: stonemason

text: Brazil

text: peasant

text: São Paulo

text: minor seminary

text: Premonstratensian Fathers

text: major seminary

text: Pontifical Gregorian University

text: doctorate in theology

text: Rome

text: ordained

text: priesthood

text: Basilio Cardinal Pompili

text: philosophy

text: dogmatic theology

text: Vicar General

text: Catholic Action

text: canon

text: cathedral

text: chapter

text: parish priest

text: prefect

text: Coadjutor Bishop

text: Campos

text: Titular Bishop

text: Pope Pius XII

text: episcopal consecration

text: Carlo Chiarlo

text: Geraldo de Proença Sigaud

text: S.V.D.

text: co-consecrators

text: Bishop

text: liberation theology

text: Tradition, Family and Property

text: traditionalist

text: Second Vatican Council

text: Tridentine Mass

text: Licínio Rangel

text: respiratory failure

text: Campos

categories: People excommunicated by the Catholic Church,Coetus Internationalis Patrum,Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney,Deaths from respiratory failure,Brazilian Roman Catholics,Brazilian Traditionalist Catholics,Traditionalist Catholic bishops,20th-century Roman Catholic bishops,Pontifical Gregorian University alumni,1904 births,1991 deaths,People from Campinas,Brazilian people of German descent

paragraph: Antônio de Castro Mayer

paragraph: Antônio de Castro Mayer (20 June 1904 – 25 April 1991) was a Brazilian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. A Traditionalist Catholic and ally of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, he was Bishop of Campos from 1949 until his resignation in 1981.

paragraph: In 1988, he incurred the automatic canonical penalty of excommunication for participating in the illicit consecration of four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). This penalty also applied to Archbishop Lefebvre and the four bishops that they ordained. However a subsequent public declaration of the penalty by the Holy See omitted his name, identifying only Archbishop Lefebvre and the four bishops whom they ordained. This was only one of several inconsistencies in the process. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the canonical penalty incurred by the four surviving bishops in the hope of facilitating full reconciliation of the SSPX.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Antônio de Castro Mayer was born in Campinas, São Paulo, to Joao Mayer, a Bavarian stonemason, and his wife, Francisca de Castro, a Brazilian peasant. One of twelve children, Antônio helped his mother support their family after Joao died in 1910. At age 12, he entered São Paulo's minor seminary, then run by the Premonstratensian Fathers. After entering the major seminary in 1922, he was sent to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University (from where he obtained his doctorate in theology in 1928) in Rome. Mayer was ordained to the priesthood by Basilio Cardinal Pompili on 30 October 1927, and then taught philosophy, history of philosophy, and dogmatic theology at the seminary in São Paulo.

paragraph: Before being named Vicar General of São Paulo in 1942, he became Assistant General of the city's Catholic Action in 1940 and a canon of the cathedral chapter (with the title of First Treasurer) in 1941. He was made a parish priest and the prefect of studies at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo in 1945.

paragraph: On 6 March 1948, De Castro Mayer was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Campos and Titular Bishop of "Priene" by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 23 May from Archbishop Carlo Chiarlo, with Bishop Ernesto de Paula and Archbishop Geraldo de Proença Sigaud, S.V.D., serving as co-consecrators. He succeeded Octaviano de Albuquerque as Bishop of Campos on January 3, 1949, and was very active in combating liberation theology and communist infiltration of the Church and of his diocese.

paragraph: In 1968, the Catholic conservative group Tradition, Family and Property organized a campaign to collect signatures denouncing what were perceived as leftists in the Church. De Castro Mayer lent encouragement to the campaign. Later the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil declared that TFP was neither recognized by the hierarchy nor considered an official Catholic organization.

paragraph: De Castro Mayer, a staunch traditionalist, refused to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in his diocese. Until his resignation on 29 August 1981, the Tridentine Mass continued throughout the Campos diocese, along with all the other traditional Catholic practices and devotions. He continued this even after resigning as diocesan ordinary and being succeeded by Bishop Carlos Navarro. He was able to maintain a completely traditionalist "diocese" within a diocese, with around 40,000 faithful, which he organized in parallel chapels. (The diocese itself, without the followers of Bishop Castro Mayer, had some 850,000 Catholics.) This organisation was called the Priestly Society of Saint John Mary Vianney. Under the leadership of his successor, Bishop Licínio Rangel, this organization was subsequently reconciled to the Catholic Church and reconstituted as the present Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney, with the same territory as the Diocese of Campos, Brazil, by Pope John Paul II in January 2002.

paragraph: On his death bed, Bishop de Castro Mayer refused to sign a so-called ""formula of reconciliation"" (which would include an admission that excommunication was really incurred and that no situation of necessity, as claimed by Lefebvre and Castro Mayer, had existed in 1988) proposed by Vatican delegates at his death bed. He died of respiratory failure in Campos on 25 April 1991.

description: Catholic bishop

wikidata_label: Antônio de Castro Mayer

wikipedia_title: Antônio de Castro Mayer


text: Roman emperor

text: Alemanni

text: Goths

text: Battle of Naissus

text: Plague of Cyprian

text: Sirmium

text: Pannonia Inferior

text: Naissus

text: Moesia Superior

text: Epitome de Caesaribus

text: Gordian II

text: Gallienus

text: cavalry

text: Aureolus

text: Milan

text: Gallienus

text: Roman Senate

text: Gallienus

text: Maximinus Thrax

text: barbarian

text: aristocratic

text: soldier emperor

text: Crisis of the Third Century

text: Roman Empire

text: Gallic Empire

text: Palmyrene Empire

text: Gallienus

text: Postumus

text: Odaenathus

text: Odaenathus

text: Zenobia

text: Postumus

text: Macrianus

text: Skythai

text: Postumus

text: Gallic

text: Balkans

text: Aureolus

text: Milan

text: Herulians

text: Asia Minor

text: Greece

text: Aurelius Heraclianus

text: Praetorian Prefect

text: Historia Augusta

text: Lucius Aurelius Marcianus

text: Constantine

text: Constantine

text: Aurelian

text: Milan

text: Appian Way

text: Aureolus

text: Roman Empire

text: Illyricum

text: Pannonia

text: Goths

text: Gallienus

text: Battle of Naissus

text: cavalry

text: Aurelian

text: laager

text: Danube River

text: Alamanni

text: Alps

text: Battle of Lake Benacus

text: Gallic Empire

text: Britain

text: Gaul

text: Iberian Peninsula

text: Hispania

text: Sirmium

text: Vandals

text: Pannonia

text: Plague of Cyprian

text: smallpox

text: Quintillus

text: Senate

text: Gallienus

text: Balkans

text: Pannonia

text: Moesia

text: Illyricum

text: Theodosius I

text: Hispania

text: Aurelius Heraclianus

text: Heraclianus

text: Thracia

text: constitutio Antoniniana

text: Marcianus

text: vigiles

text: Placidianus

text: Danubian

text: Severan

text: Marcus Aurelius Probus

text: Caracalla

text: aristocracy

text: Flavius Antiochianus

text: Postumus

text: Germania Superior

text: Postumus

text: Mainz

text: Laelianus

text: Marcus Aurelius Marius

text: Victorinus

text: Gaul

text: Gallic Empire

text: France

text: Placidianus

text: Grenoble

text: Autun

text: Autun

text: Palmyra

text: Historia Augusta

text: Aurelius Heraclianus

text: Zenobia

text: Constantine

text: Goths

text: Latin

text: Constantine I

text: Naissus

text: Zonaras

text: Greek

text: Latin

text: Zosimus

text: Autun

text: Zenobia

text: Gaul

text: Odaenathus

text: Vaballathus

text: Aurelius Heraclianus

text: Zabdas

text: Palmyrene

text: Arabia

text: Egypt

text: Cyrenaica

text: Mediterranean

text: Timagenes

text: Cairo

text: Heraclianus

text: Bostra

text: Vaballathus

text: Odaenathus

text: Latin

text: mlk

text: Persia

text: Gaul

text: antoninianus

text: Lava Treasure

text: Aurelius Victor

text: Sibylline Books

text: Goths

text: Gallienus

text: Historia Augusta

text: Constantius Chlorus

text: genealogical

text: Constantine I

text: Saint Valentine

text: Middle Ages

text: Diocletianic Persecution

text: Claudius I

text: Suetonius

text: Suetonius on Christians

text: Nuremberg Chronicle

text: Christians

text: Golden Legend

text: Valentine's Day

text: Aurelius Victor

text: Epitome de Caesaribus

text: Eutropius

text: Breviarium ab urbe condita

text: Historia Augusta

text: Life of Claudius

text: Joannes Zonaras

text: Zosimus

text: Historia Nova

categories: Claudii,214 births,Imperial Roman consuls,270 deaths,3rd-century Roman emperors,Deified Roman emperors,Aurelii,Gothicus Maximus,Crisis of the Third Century

paragraph: Claudius Gothicus

paragraph: Claudius Gothicus (; May 10, 214 – January 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle of Naissus. He died after succumbing to "pestilence", possibly the Plague of Cyprian that had ravaged the provinces of the Empire.

paragraph: Section::::Early life and origin.

paragraph: Claudius' origin is uncertain. Born on May 10, 214, he was either from Sirmium in Pannonia Inferior or from Naissus in Moesia Superior. According to the fourth-century "Epitome de Caesaribus", he was thought to be a bastard son of Gordian II, but this is doubted by some historians.

paragraph: Claudius had served with the Roman army for all his adult life, making his way up the military hierarchy until Emperor Gallienus made him the commander of his elite cavalry force ("hipparchos") and subsequently his military deputy. In September 268, he found himself assigned as a military tribune with the Imperial Army besieging the usurper Aureolus in Milan. His troops then proclaimed him Emperor amid charges, never proven, that he murdered his predecessor Gallienus. However, he soon proved to be less than bloodthirsty, as he asked the Roman Senate to spare the lives of Gallienus' family and supporters. He was less magnanimous toward Rome's enemies, however, and it was to this that he owed his popularity.

paragraph: It is possible Claudius gained his position and the respect of the soldiers by being physically strong and especially cruel. A legend tells of Claudius knocking out a horse's teeth with one punch. When Claudius performed as a wrestler in the 250s, he supposedly knocked out the teeth of his opponent when his genitalia had been grabbed in the match.

paragraph: Claudius, like Maximinus Thrax before him, was of barbarian birth. After an interlude of failed aristocratic Roman emperors since Maximinus' death, Claudius was the first in a series of tough “soldier emperors” who would eventually restore the Empire from the Crisis of the Third Century.

paragraph: Section::::Military career and rise to power.:Downfall of Gallienus.

paragraph: During the 260s, the breakup of the Roman Empire into three distinct governing entities (the core Roman Empire, the Gallic Empire and the Palmyrene Empire) placed the whole Roman imperium into a precarious position. Gallienus was seriously weakened by his failure to defeat Postumus in the West, and the ability of Odaenathus to live with his arrangement with Gallienus in the East. By 268, however, the situation had changed, as Odaenathus was assassinated, most likely out of court intrigue, and Gallienus fell victim to a mutiny in his own ranks. Upon the death of Odaenathus, power fell to his younger son, who was dominated by his mother, Zenobia.

paragraph: Under threat of invasion by multiple tribes, Gallienus' troubles primarily lay with Postumus, whom he could not attack because his attention was required in dealing with Macrianus and the invading "Skythai." After four years of delay, Postumus had established power, but in 265, when Gallienus and his men crossed the Alps, they defeated and besieged Postumus in an (unnamed) Gallic city. When victory appeared to be near, Gallienus made the mistake of approaching the city walls too closely and was gravely injured, compelling him to withdraw the campaign. In the next three years, Gallienus' troubles would only get worse. The "Skythai" successfully invaded the Balkans in the early months of 268, and Aureolus, a commander of the cavalry, declared himself an ally of Postumus and the new emperor in Milan.

paragraph: At this time, another invasion was taking place. A group called the Herulians navigated through Asia Minor and then into Greece on a naval expedition. Details of these invasions are abstract, as it is nearly impossible to reconstruct the happenings, due to the chain of conflicts initiated by the Herulians in 268. Scholars assume Gallienus' efforts were focused on Aureolus, the officer who betrayed him, and the defeat of the Herulians was left to his successor, Claudius Gothicus.

paragraph: The death of Gallienus is surrounded by conspiracy and betrayal, as were many emperors' deaths. Different accounts of the incident are recorded, but they agree that senior officials wanted Gallienus dead. According to two accounts, the prime conspirator was Aurelius Heraclianus, the Praetorian Prefect. One version of the story tells of Heraclianus bringing Claudius into the plot while the account given by Historia Augusta exculpates the would-be emperor and adds the prominent general Lucius Aurelius Marcianus into the plot. The removal of Claudius from the conspiracy is due to his later role as the progenitor of the house of Constantine, a fiction of Constantine's time, and may serve to guarantee that the original version from which these two accounts spring was current prior to the reign of Constantine. It is written that while sitting down at dinner, Gallienus was told that Aureolus and his men were approaching the camp. Gallienus rushed to the front lines, ready to give orders, when he was struck down by a commander of his cavalry. In a different and more controversial account, Aureolus forges a document in which Gallienus appears to be plotting against his generals and makes sure it falls into the hands of the emperor's senior staff. In this plot, Aurelian is added as a possible conspirator. The tale of his involvement in the conspiracy might be seen as at least partial justification for the murder of Aurelian himself under circumstances that seem remarkably similar to those in this story.

paragraph: Whichever story is true, Gallienus was killed in the summer of 268, and Claudius was chosen by the army outside of Milan to succeed him. Accounts tell of people hearing the news of the new Emperor, and reacting by murdering Gallienus' family members until Claudius declared he would respect the memory of his predecessor. Claudius had the deceased emperor deified and buried in a family tomb on the Appian Way. The traitor Aureolus was not treated with the same reverence, as he was killed by his besiegers after a failed attempt to surrender.

paragraph: Section::::Military career and rise to power.:The Campaigns of Claudius.

paragraph: At the time of Claudius' accession, the Roman Empire was in serious danger from several incursions, both within and outside its borders. The most pressing of these was an invasion of Illyricum and Pannonia by the Goths. Although Gallienus had already inflicted some damage on them at the Battle of Nestus, Claudius, not long after being named Emperor, followed this up by winning his greatest victory, and one of the greatest in the history of Roman arms.

paragraph: At the Battle of Naissus, Claudius and his legions routed a huge Gothic army. Together with his cavalry commander, the future Emperor Aurelian, the Romans took thousands of prisoners, destroyed the Gothic cavalry as a force, and stormed their laager (a circular alignment of wagons long favored by the Goths). The victory earned Claudius his surname of "Gothicus" (conqueror of the Goths), and that is how he is known to this day. More importantly, the Goths were soon driven back across the Danube River by Aurelian, and nearly a century passed before they again posed a serious threat to the empire.

paragraph: At the same time, the Alamanni had crossed the Alps and attacked the empire. Claudius responded quickly, routing the Alamanni at the Battle of Lake Benacus in the late fall of 268, a few months after the battle of Naissus. For this he was awarded the title of "Germanicus Maximus." He then turned on the Gallic Empire, ruled by a pretender for the past eight years and encompassing Britain, Gaul, and the Iberian Peninsula. He won several victories and soon regained control of Hispania and the Rhone river valley of Gaul. This set the stage for the ultimate destruction of the Gallic Empire under Aurelian.

paragraph: However, Claudius did not live long enough to fulfill his goal of reuniting all the lost territories of the empire. Late in 269 he had traveled to Sirmium and was preparing to go to war against the Vandals, who were raiding in Pannonia. However, he fell victim to the Plague of Cyprian (possibly smallpox), and died early in January 270. Before his death, he is thought to have named Aurelian as his successor, though Claudius' brother Quintillus briefly seized power.

paragraph: The Senate immediately deified Claudius as "Divus Claudius Gothicus".

paragraph: Section::::Military career and rise to power.:The Empire and Foreign Affairs Under Claudius.

paragraph: Claudius was not the only man to reap the benefits of holding high office after the death of Gallienus. Before the rule of Claudius Gothicus, there had only been two emperors from the Balkans, but afterwards there would only be one emperor who did not hail from the provinces of Pannonia, Moesia or Illyricum until the year 378, when Theodosius I from Hispania would take the throne. To comprehend the structure of government during the reign of Claudius, we must look at four inscriptions that deepen our understanding of a new, truncated empire. The first is a dedication to Aurelius Heraclianus, the prefect involved in the conspiracy against Gallienus, from Traianus Mucianus, who also gave a dedication to Heraclianus' brother, Aurelius Appollinaris, who was the equestrian governor of the province of "Thracia" in 267-68 AD. Because these men shared the family name, Marcus Aurelius, a name given to those made citizens by the constitutio Antoniniana, we can understand that these men did not come from the imperial "élite". The third inscription reveals the career of Marcianus, another leading general by the time that Gallienus died. The fourth honors Julius Placidianus, the prefect of the vigiles. While we cannot prove that Heraclianus, Appollinaris, Placidianus, or Marcianus were of Danubian origin themselves, it is clear that none of them were members of the Severan aristocracy, and all of them appear to owe their prominence to their military roles. To those men must be added Marcus Aurelius Probus (another emperor in waiting), also of Balkan background, and from a family enfranchised in the time of Caracalla.

paragraph: Although we see a rise in Pannonian, Moesian and Illyrian marshals, and foreigners become notable figures, it would be impractical to think the government could function without help from the traditional classes within the empire. Although their influence was weakened, there were still a number of men with influence from the older aristocracy. Claudius assumed the consulship in 269 with Paternus, a member of the prominent senatorial family, the Paterni, who had supplied consuls and urban prefects throughout Gallienus' reign, and thus were quite influential. In addition, Flavius Antiochianus, one of the consuls of 270, who was an urban prefect the year before, would continue to hold his office for the following year. A colleague of Antiochianus, Virius Orfitus, also the descendant of a powerful family, would continue to hold influence during his father's term as prefect. Aurelian's colleague as consul was another such man, Pomponius Bassus, a member of one of the oldest senatorial families, as was one of the consuls in 272, Junius Veldumnianus.

paragraph: In his first full year of power, Claudius was greatly assisted by the sudden destruction of the imperium Galliarum. When Ulpius Cornelius Laelianus, a high official under Postumus, declared himself emperor in Germania Superior, in the spring of 269, Postumus defeated him, but in doing so, refused to allow the sack of Mainz, which had served as Laelianus' headquarters. This proved to be his downfall, for out of anger, Postumus' army mutinied and murdered him. Selected by the troops, Marcus Aurelius Marius was to replace Postumus as ruler. Marius' rule did not last long though, as Victorinus, Postumus' praetorian prefect, defeated him. Now emperor of the Gauls, Victorinus was soon in a precarious position, for the Spanish provinces had deserted the Gallic Empire and declared their loyalty to Claudius, while in southern France, Placidianus had captured Grenoble. Luckily, it was there that Placidianus stopped and Victorinus' position stabilized. In the next year, when Autun revolted, declaring itself for Claudius, the central government made no moves to support it. As a result, the city went through a siege, lasting many weeks, until it was finally captured and sacked by Victorinus.

paragraph: It is still unknown why Claudius did nothing to help the city of Autun, but sources tell us his relations with Palmyra were waning in the course of 270. An obscure passage in the Historia Augusta's life of Gallienus states that he had sent an army under Aurelius Heraclianus to the region that had been annihilated by Zenobia. But because Heraclianus was not actually in the east in 268 (instead, at this time, he was involved in the conspiracy of Gallienus' death), we can see that this can not be correct. But the confusion evident in this passage, which also places the bulk of "Skythian" activity during 269 a year earlier, under Gallienus, may stem from a later effort to pile all possible disasters in this year into the reign of the former Emperor. This would keep Claudius' record of being an ancestor of Constantine from being tainted. If this understanding of the sources is correct, it might also be correct to see the expedition of Heraclianus to the east as an event of Claudius' time.

paragraph: The victories of Claudius over the Goths would not only make him a hero in Latin tradition, but an admirable choice as an ancestor for Constantine I, who was born at Naissus, the site of Claudius' victory in 269. Claudius is also held in high esteem by Zonaras, whose Greek tradition seems to have been influenced by Latin. For Zosimus, a more reasoned contemporary view shows him as less grand. Claudius' successes in the year 269 were not continued in his next year as Emperor. As the "Skythai" starved in the mountains or surrendered, the legions pursuing them began to see an epidemic spreading throughout the men. Also, Claudius' unwillingness to do anything at the siege of Autun likely provoked a quarrel with Zenobia.

paragraph: Although it is not proven that the invasion of Gaul was the breaking point between Claudius and Zenobia, the sequence of events point to the siege as an important factor. The issue at hand was the position that Odaenathus held as corrector totius orientis (imparting overall command of the Roman armies and authority over the Roman provincial governors in the designated region). Vaballathus, the son of Zenobia, was given this title when Zenobia claimed it for him. From then on, tension between the two empires would only get worse. Aurelius Heraclianus' fabled arrival might have been an effort to reassert central control after the death of Odaenathus, but, if so, it failed. Although coins were never minted with the face of Odaenathus, soon after his death coins were made with image of his son — outstripping his authority under the emperor.

paragraph: Under Zabdas, a Palmyrene army invaded Arabia and moved into Egypt in the late summer. At this time, the prefect of Egypt was Tenagino Probus, described as an able soldier who not only defeated an invasion of Cyrenaica by the nomadic tribes to the south in 269, but also was successful in hunting down "Skythian" ships in the Mediterranean. However, he did not see the same success in Egypt, for a Palmyrene underground, led by Timagenes, undermined Probus, defeated his army, and killed him in a battle near the modern city of Cairo in the late summer of 270.

paragraph: Generally when a Roman commander is slaughtered it is taken as a sign that a state of war is in existence, and if we can associate the death of Heraclianus in 270, as well as an inscription from Bostra recording the rebuilding of a temple destroyed by the Palmyrene army, then these violent acts could be interpreted the same way. Yet they apparently were not. As David Potter writes, "The coins of Vaballathus avoid claims to imperial power: he remains vir consularis, rex, imperator, dux Romanorum, a range of titles that did not mimic those of the central government. The status vir consularis was, as we have seen, conferred upon Odaenathus; the title rex, or king, is simply a Latin translation of mlk, or king; imperator in this context simply means "victorious general"; and dux Romanorum looks like yet another version of corrector totius orientis" (Potter, 263). These titles suggest that Odaenathus' position was inheritable. In Roman culture, the status gained in procuring a position could be passed on, but not the position itself. It is possible that the thin line between office and the status that accompanied it were dismissed in Palmyrene court, especially when the circumstance worked against the interests of a regime that was able to defeat Persia, which a number of Roman emperors had failed to do. Vaballathus stressed the meanings of titles, because in Palmyrene context, the titles of Odaenathus meant a great deal. When the summer of 270 ended, things were looking very different in the empire than they did a year before. After its success, Gaul was in a state of inactivity and the empire was failing in the east. Insufficient resources plagued the state, as a great deal of silver was used for the antoninianus, which was again diluted.

paragraph: A large number of rare gold coins of Claudius have been discovered as part of the Lava Treasure in Corsica, France, in the 1980s.

paragraph: Section::::Religion.

paragraph: A short history of imperial Rome, entitled "De Caesaribus" written by Aurelius Victor in AD 361 states that Claudius consulted the Sibylline Books prior to his campaigns against the Goths. Hinting that Claudius "revived the tradition of the Decii", Victor illustrates the senatorial view, which saw Claudius' predecessor, Gallienus, as too relaxed when it came to religious policies.

paragraph: Section::::Links to Constantinian dynasty.

paragraph: The unreliable "Historia Augusta" reports Claudius and Quintillus having another brother named Crispus and through him a niece, Claudia, who reportedly married Eutropius and was mother to Constantius Chlorus. Some historians suspect this account to be a genealogical fabrication, however, intended to link the family of Constantine I to that of a well-respected emperor.

paragraph: Section::::Saint Valentine.

paragraph: Claudius Gothicus has been linked to Saint Valentine since the Middle Ages. Contemporary records of his deeds were most probably destroyed during the Diocletianic Persecution on early 4th century and a tale of martydom was recorded in "Passio Marii et Marthae", a work published in the 5th or 6th century. 20th-century historians agree that the accounts from this period cannot be verified. The legend refers to "Emperor Claudius", but Claudius I did not persecute Christians (minus the one mention by Suetonius of Jewish followers of "Chrestus" being expelled from Rome "see" Suetonius on Christians), so people believe he was Claudius II even though this emperor spent most of his time warring outside his territory.

paragraph: The legend was retold in later texts, and in the "Nuremberg Chronicle" of 1493 AD, involved the Roman priest being martyred during a general persecution of Christians. The text states that St. Valentine was beaten with clubs and finally beheaded for giving aid to Christians in Rome. The "Golden Legend" of 1260 AD recounts how St. Valentine refused to deny Christ before the "Emperor Claudius" in 270 AD and as a result was beheaded. Since then, February 14 marks Valentine's Day, a day set aside by the Christian church in memory of the Roman priest and physician.

paragraph: Section::::Sources.

paragraph: Section::::Sources.:Primary sources.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus

paragraph: BULLET::::- Eutropius, Breviarium ab urbe condita

paragraph: BULLET::::- Historia Augusta, Life of Claudius The accuracy of this source has been questioned.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Joannes Zonaras, Compendium of History extract: Zonaras: Alexander Severus to Diocletian: 222–284

paragraph: BULLET::::- Zosimus, Historia Nova

paragraph: Section::::Sources.:Secondary sources.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Weigel, Richard D. "Claudius II Gothicus (268 -270)", "De Imperatoribus Romanis", 2001

paragraph: BULLET::::- Jones, A.H.M., Martindale, J.R. "The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire, Vol. I: AD260-395", Cambridge University Press, 1971

paragraph: BULLET::::- Southern, Pat. "The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine", Routledge, 2001

paragraph: BULLET::::- Gibbon. Edward "Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire" (1888)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Curran, John R. Pagan City and Christian Capital: Rome in the Fourth Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 2000. Print

paragraph: BULLET::::- Larue, Gerald A. "There They Go Again!" The Humanist Sept. 1999: 1. Print.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Meijer, Fik. Emperors Don't Die in Bed. London: Routledge, 2004. Print.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Potter, David S. "Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2005.08.01." The Bryn Mawr Classical Review. 2004.

alias: Marcus Aurelius Valerius Claudius Augustus

alias: Marcus Aurelius Augustus, imperatore romano Claudius

description: Roman Emperor from 268 to 270 (213–270)

wikidata_label: Claudius Gothicus

wikipedia_title: Claudius Gothicus