title: Peter Schiff

text: Depending on the point at which they adopted his strategies, followers of Schiff may have had strong, average or poor returns. In January 2009, economic blogger and investment adviser Michael Shedlock wrote, "I have talked with many who claim they have invested with Schiff and are down anywhere from 40% to 70% in 2008." Later that week, an article appeared in the "Wall Street Journal" reporting that Schiff's broker-dealer firm had "advised its clients to bet that the dollar would weaken significantly and that foreign stocks would outpace their U.S. peers" but the dollar later advanced against most currencies, "magnifying the losses from foreign stocks." In response to Shedlock's criticism, Schiff wrote that "to examine the effectiveness of my investment strategy immediately following a major correction by looking only at those accounts who adopted the strategy at the previous peak is unfair and distortive." In December 2012 Schiff wrote an article entitled "Mish Shedlock exposed" in which he criticized Shedlock for selective use of short-term data in the financial crisis and argued that his investment strategy had made strong returns over the long-run.


title: Peter Schiff

text: Schiff's views have been criticized several times by economist Paul Krugman, who defines inflation very differently from Schiff, focusing on CPI increases rather than monetary and asset price inflation. Schiff believes inflation eventually leads to increases in consumer prices after an indefinite waiting period. In October 2010, Krugman wrote, "I keep being told that Peter Schiff has been right about everything; so, how's that hyperinflation thing going?" In December 2011, Krugman quoted Peter Schiff's statement from December 2009: "I know inflation is going to get worse in 2010. Whether it's going to run out of control or it's going to take until 2011 or 2012, but I know we're going to have a major currency crisis coming soon. It's going to dwarf the financial crisis and it's going to send consumer prices absolutely ballistic, as well as interest rates and unemployment." Krugman noted that inflation had instead remained low and concluded that Schiff's type of economic "model is all wrong" since it predicts that a tripling of the monetary base, such as had just occurred, must lead to "dire effects on the price level."


title: Peter Schiff

text: In January 2012, Schiff stated that a US debt crisis and high consumer price inflation had been delayed merely by government policy. In November 2012 and again in November 2014, Krugman repeated his criticisms of Schiff's predictions of eventual high consumer price inflation and rising interest rates in America.


title: Peter Schiff

text: In November 2008, Schiff said he supported the reduction of government economic regulation and was concerned that the Obama administration might instead increase such regulation. He said that the late-2000s financial crisis provided an opportunity to transition from borrowing and spending to saving and producing. He was critical of the US government's efforts to "ease the pain" with economic stimulus packages and bailout, as he believed that replacing "legitimate savings with a printing press" would result in asset price inflation, eventual consumer price inflation, and if left unchecked potentially hyperinflation.


title: Peter Schiff

text: For example, in 2009, Schiff predicted a "protracted period of economic decline accompanied by rapid increases in consumer prices." Schiff's critics pointed out that although asset price inflation has been significant, consumer price inflation rates remained very low in the five years that followed despite his predictions.


title: Peter Schiff

text: When the Fed ended the quantitative easing program in October 2014, the general opinion was the Fed would conduct multiple rate hikes in the year 2015. In contrast, Schiff predicted that the market could not withstand even a minor interest rate increase, thus the Fed announcing a higher rate would be very unlikely. However, he did open up the possibility of a few basis point rate hike but anticipated that it would have major impact on the equity market and would lead the US into recession, therefore the Fed would be forced to reverse its policy and resume the QE program.


title: Peter Schiff

text: In December 2008, some Connecticut citizens created a website encouraging Schiff to campaign against incumbent senator Christopher Dodd. Approximately 5000 people made campaign contributions using the web site. On February 21, 2009, a moneybomb raised over $20,000 for Schiff's campaign.


title: Peter Schiff

text: In a May 2009 video blog, Schiff said that he was seriously considering a run for the Senate, and when questioned by a "Washington Post" reporter, he said the chance of him entering politics was "better than 50-50." In June 2009, Schiff commissioned a poll of likely voters which indicated that he trailed Dodd in popularity by only four percentage points. On July 9, 2009, Schiff launched an exploratory committee and an official campaign website.


title: Peter Schiff

text: After giving some hints he would run on "The Daily Show", Schiff officially announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination on September 17, 2009, during the MSNBC "Morning Joe" show. By October 2009, Schiff had received more than 10,000 donations and many e-mails from around the world. Schiff's campaign received endorsements from Ron Paul and Steve Forbes.


title: Peter Schiff

text: At the May 2010 Republican convention, Linda McMahon received the most delegate votes but not enough to prevent an August primary election challenge from Rob Simmons. Schiff failed to qualify for the primary at the convention but became the only Republican candidate to successfully petition on to the ballot. McMahon won the primary with 49% of the vote. Simmons came in second with 28% of the vote, and Schiff came in third with 23% of the vote.


title: Peter Schiff

text: Schiff did not endorse McMahon in the 2012 Republican primary but rather her opponent, former representative Christopher Shays. Shays lost in the primary to McMahon, who lost in the general election to Democrat Chris Murphy.


title: Peter Schiff

text: Prior to the financial crisis, Schiff frequently appeared on CNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg to voice his opinions on the US economy and financial markets. However, after the financial crisis, his bookings dropped by 75 to 85% on these networks.


title: Peter Schiff

text: In August 2012, Schiff replaced G. Gordon Liddy in the 10 a.m.–12 p.m. time slot on the Radio America network Internet broadcast.


title: Peter Schiff

text: Schiff is also a video blogger in the internet and distributes his media through YouTube, Euro Pacific Capital, and iTunes.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Pongal (, ), also referred to as Tai Pongal (), is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka. It is observed at the start of the month "Tai" according to Tamil solar calendar, and this is typically about January 14. It is dedicated to the sun god, Surya, and corresponds to Makar Sankranti, the harvest festival under many regional names celebrated throughout India. The three days of the Pongal festival are called Bhogi Pongal, Surya Pongal, and Mattu Pongal. Some Tamils celebrate a fourth day of Pongal known as Kanum Pongal.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: According to tradition, the festival marks the end of winter solstice, and the start of the sun's six-month-long journey northwards when the sun enters the Capricorn, also called as Uttarayana. The festival is named after the ceremonial "Pongal", which means "to boil, overflow" and refers to the traditional dish prepared from the new harvest of rice boiled in milk with jaggery (raw sugar). To mark the festival, the pongal dish is prepared, first offered to the gods and goddesses, including Surya. Mattu Pongal is for worship of the cow known as Madu. Cattle are bathed, their horns polished and painted in bright colors, and garlands of flowers placed around their necks. The pongal that has been offered to the deities is then given to cattle , and then shared by the family. Festive celebrations include decorating cows and their horns, ritual bathing and processions. It is traditionally an occasion for decorating rice-powder based kolam artworks, offering prayers in the home, temples, getting together with family and friends, and exchanging gifts to renew social bonds of solidarity.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Pongal is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Tamil people in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry in India. It is also a major Tamil festival in Sri Lanka. It is observed by the Tamil diaspora worldwide, including those in Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, Singapore, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and the Gulf countries.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: "Tai" (தை, Thai) refers to the name of the tenth month in the Tamil calendar, while "Pongal" (from "pongu") connotes "boiling over" or "overflow." "Pongal" is also the name of a sweetened dish of rice boiled in milk and jaggery that is ritually consumed on this day.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The principal theme of Pongal is thanking the Sun god, the forces of nature, and the farm animals and people who support agriculture. The Pongal festival is mentioned in an inscription in the Viraraghava temple dedicated to Vishnu (in Thiruvallur). Credited to the Chola king Kulottunga I (1070–1122 CE), the inscription describes a grant of land to the temple for celebrating the annual Pongal festivities. Similarly, the 9th-century Shiva bhakti text "Tiruvembavai" by Manikkavachakar vividly mentions the festival. However, there is no evidence in the holy scriptures for celebrating Pongal.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: According to Andrea Gutiérrez – a scholar of Sanskrit and Tamil traditions, the history of the Pongal dish in festive and religious context can be traced to at least the Chola period. It appears in numerous texts and inscriptions with variant spellings. In early records, it appears as "ponakam", "tiruponakam", "ponkal" and similar terms. Some of the major temple inscriptions from Chola Dynasty to Vijayanagara Empire periods include detailed recipe which are essentially the same as the pongal recipes of the modern era, but for the variations in seasonings and relative amounts of the ingredients. Further, the terms "ponakam", "ponkal" and its prefixed variants have meant either the festive pongal dish by itself as "prasadam", or the pongal dish as part of entire "thali" (now "alankara naivedya"). These were a part of the charitable grants received and served by free community kitchens in Tamil, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Hindu temples either as festival food or to pilgrims every day.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The festival's most significant practice is the preparation of the traditional "pongal" dish. It utilizes freshly harvested rice, and is prepared by boiling it in milk and raw cane sugar (jaggery). Sometimes additional ingredients are added to the sweet dish, such as: cardamom, raisins, Green gram (split), and cashew nuts. Other ingredients include coconut and ghee (clarified butter from cow milk). Along with the sweet version of the Pongal dish, some prepare other versions such as salty and savoury ("venpongal"). In some communities, women take their "cooking pots to the town center, or the main square, or near a temple of their choice or simply in front of their own home" and cook together as a social event, states Gutiérrez. The cooking is done in sunlight, usually in a porch or courtyard, as the dish is dedicated to the Sun god, Surya. Relatives and friends are invited, and the standard greeting on the Pongal day typically is, "has the rice boiled"?


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The cooking is done in a clay pot that is often garlanded with leaves or flowers, sometimes tied with a piece of turmeric root or marked with pattern artwork called "kolam". It is either cooked at home, or in community gatherings such as in temples or village open spaces. It is the ritual dish, along with many other courses prepared from seasonal foods for all present. It is traditionally offered to the gods and goddesses first, followed sometimes by cows, then to friends and family gathered. Temples and communities organize free kitchen prepared by volunteers to all those who gather. According to Andre Bateille, this tradition is a means to renew social bonds. Portions of the sweet pongal dish ("sakkara pongal") are distributed as the "prasadam" in Hindu temples.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The dish and the process of its preparation is a part of the symbolism, both conceptually and materially. It celebrates the harvest, the cooking transforms the gift of agriculture into nourishment for the gods and the community on a day that Tamil's traditionally believe marks the end of winter solstice and starts the sun god's journey north. The blessing of abundance by Goddess Pongal (Uma, Parvati) is symbolically marked by the dish "boiling over".


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The festival is observed for three or four days in Tamil Nadu, but one or two days in urban locations particularly in the Tamil diaspora outside South Asia.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The Pongal festival begins on the day called Bhogi Pongal, and it marks the last day of the Tamil month Marghali. On this day people discard old belongings and celebrate new possessions. The people assemble and light a bonfire in order to burn the heaps of discards. Houses are cleaned, painted and decorated to give a festive look. The horns of oxen and buffaloes are painted in villages. New clothes are worn to mark the start of the festival. The deity of the day is Indra – the god of rains, to whom prayers are offered, with thanks and hopes for plentiful rains in the year ahead.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Bhogi is also observed on the same day in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In the ceremony called Bhogi Pallu, fruits of the harvest such as regi pallu and sugar cane are collected along with flowers of the season. Money is often placed into a mixture of treats and is poured over children. The children then separate and collect the money and sweet fruits.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Surya Pongal – also called Suryan Pongal or Perum Pongal – is the second and main festive day, and is dedicated to the sun god. It is the first day of the Tamil calendar month Tai, and coincides with Makara Sankranthi – a winter harvest festival celebrated throughout India. The day marks the start of the Uttarayana, when the sun enters the 10th house of the zodiac Makara (Capricorn). The day is celebrated with family and friends, with the Pongal dish prepared in a traditional earthen pot in an open space in the view of the sun. The pot is typically decorated by tying a turmeric plant or flower garland, and near the cooking stove are placed two or more tall fresh sugarcane stalks.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The pongal dish is traditionally prepared by boiling milk, in a group setting. When it starts to bubble, freshly harvested rice grains and cane sugar are added to the pot. As the dish begins to boil and overflow out of the vessel, one or more participants blow a conch called the "sanggu" while others shout with joy "Pongalo Pongal"! – "lit." "may this rice boil over". This is symbolism for the shared wish of greater fortunes in the year ahead. In rural settings, the gathered women or neighbors sing "kuruvai trills" (traditional songs) while the pongal dish is cooking. The dish is offered to the gods and goddesses, sometimes to the village cows, and then shared by the community. Men traditionally offer prayers to the sun with the <nowiki>"vanakkam"</nowiki> posture in open, and then proceed to eat their meal. According to James Lochtefeld, the Pongal dish is first offered to Surya and Ganesha, and then shared with the gathered friends and family.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Tamils decorate their homes with banana and mango leaves and embellish the entrance space before homes, corridors or doors with decorative floral, festive or geometric patterns drawn using colored rice flour. These are called "kolams".


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Mattu Pongal is celebrated the day after Surya Pongal. Mattu refers to "cow, bullock, cattle", and Tamil people irrespecive of religion, regard cattle as sources of wealth for providing dairy products, fertilizer, transportation and agricultural aid. On Mattu Pongal, cattle are decorated – sometimes with flower garlands or painted horns, they are offered bananas, a special meal and worshipped. Some decorate their cows with manjalthanni (turmeric water) and oil. Shikakai apply kungumam (kumkum) to their foreheads, paint their horns, and feed them a mixture of venn pongal, jaggery, honey, banana and other fruits. Others bathe their cattle and prostrate before them with words of thanks for the help with the harvest.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: In cities, the day marks the ritual visit to nearby temples and prayers there. Temples and communities hold processions by parading icons from the sanctum of the temple in wooden chariots, drama-dance performances encouraging social gatherings and renewal of community bonds. Other events during Pongal include community sports and games such as cattle race, the Jallikattu. The major cultural festivals on Pongal occur near Madurai.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Kanum Pongal, sometimes called the Kanu Pongal, the fourth day of the festival, marks the end of Pongal festivities for the year. The word "kanum" ("kaanum") in this context means "to visit." Many families hold reunions on this day. Communities organize social events to strengthen mutual bonds. Villagers cut and consume farm fresh sugarcane during social gatherings. Relatives, friends and neighbors visit to greet, while youngsters go out to meet seniors among the relatives and neighborhoods to pay respects and seek blessings, while some elders give the visiting children some pocket change as a gift.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: "Kanu Pidi" is a tradition observed on Mattu Pongal by women and young girls. They place a leaf of turmeric plant outside their home, and feed the leftover pongal dish and food from Surya Pongal to the birds, particularly crow. They pray for their brothers' well being, in a manner similar to "Bhaiya dooj" in north India. Brothers pay special tribute to their married sisters by giving gifts as affirmation of their filial love.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: In Kerala – a state that shares historic cultural overlap with Tamils through Chera dynasty according to Sangam literature, the festival is called Pongala. The rituals including the cooking of milk-rice-jaggery dish, social visits, and the reverence for cattle is observed in Kerala communities. It is observed on the same day as Tamil Pongal, and is a limited state holiday in the districts of Wayanad, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Palakkad, and Thiruvananthapuram.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Of particular note is the largest pilgrimage and annual gathering of Tamil women to the Attukal Bhagavati Temple near Thiruvanathapuram (Kerala). The Pongala festival falls according to the Malayalam calendar, in the month of Makaram-Kumbham (February–March). They gather and stay in the streets, town people host and help with the supplies, they cook together and offer the Pongala dish to the Hindu temple goddess Bhagavati (Parvati, or Durga-Kannaki). Free food is distributed to everyone on the streets.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: While the Attukal Pongala pilgrimage and festival has roots in Tamil culture and temples, it attracts participation from women from other religions. The Attukal Pongala has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest gathering of women in the world, featuring an estimated 2.5 million women. The celebrations include dance (Kathakali) and musical performances by boys and girls, as well as major processions featuring the temple goddess.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: Community Pongal is an event where families gather at ceremonial worship. It becomes an important part of the worship, starting from selecting the pot, igniting the fire and other steps. Sugarcane sticks, bananas and coconuts are also offered.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The Pongal festival maybe viewed more as a "social festival" since the contemporary celebrations do not necessarily link it to temple rituals. Temples and cultural centers organize the ritual cooking of Pongal dish, along with fairs ("Pongal mela") with handicrafts, crafts, pottery, sarees, ethnic jewelry for sale. These sites hold traditional community sports such as "Uri Adithal" ("breaking a hanging mud pot while blindfolded"), "Pallanguḻi" and "Kabbadi", as well as group dance and music performances in major cities and towns.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: In Karnataka, the festival days are similar, except the dish is called "Ellu". Decorations and social visits are also common in many parts of Karnataka.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: This day coincides with Makara Sankranthi, and Maghi (day after Lohri). It is celebrated in many parts of India, Nepal and Bangladesh.


title: Pongal (festival)

text: The festival is observed by the Tamil diaspora worldwide, including those in Malaysia, Mauritius, the Persian Gulf, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. In 2017, Delegate David Bulova introduced a joint resolution HJ573 in the Virginia House of Delegates to designate January 14 of each year as Pongal Day.


title: El Escorial

text: El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, up the valley ( road distance) from the town of El Escorial and about northwest of the Spanish capital Madrid. Built between 1563 and 1584 by order of King Philip II (who reigned 1556–1598), El Escorial is the largest Renaissance building in the world. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, basilica, royal palace, pantheon, library, museum, university, school, and hospital.


title: El Escorial

text: El Escorial consists of two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: the royal monastery itself and "La Granjilla de La Fresneda", a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about 5 kilometres away. These sites have a dual nature: during the 16th and 17th centuries, they were places in which the power of the Spanish monarchy "and" the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial was both a Spanish royal palace and a monastery, although Philip II is the only monarch who ever lived in the main building. Established with a community of Hieronymite monks, it has become a monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine. It was also a boarding school: the Real Colegio de Alfonso XII.


title: El Escorial

text: Philip II engaged the Spanish architect Juan Bautista de Toledo to be his collaborator in the building of the complex at El Escorial. Toledo had spent the greater part of his career in Rome, where he had worked on St. Peter's Basilica, and in Naples serving the king's viceroy, whose recommendation brought him to the king's attention. Philip appointed him architect-royal in 1559, and together they designed El Escorial as a monument to Spain's role as a center of the Christian world.


title: El Escorial

text: On 2 November 1984, UNESCO declared The Royal Seat of San Lorenzo of El Escorial a World Heritage Site. It is a popular tourist attraction, often visited by day-trippers from Madrid – more than 500,000 visitors come to El Escorial every year.


title: El Escorial

text: El Escorial is situated at the foot of Mount Abantos in the Sierra de Guadarrama. This austere location, hardly an obvious choice for the site of a royal palace, was chosen by King Philip II of Spain, and it was he who ordained the building of a grand edifice here to commemorate the 1557 Spanish victory at the Battle of St. Quentin in Picardy against Henry II, king of France. Philip also intended the complex to serve as a necropolis for the interment of the remains of his parents, Charles I and Isabella of Portugal, himself, and his descendants. In addition, Philip envisioned El Escorial as a center for studies in aid of the Counter-Reformation cause.


title: El Escorial

text: The building's cornerstone was laid on 23 April 1563. The design and construction were overseen by Juan Bautista de Toledo, who did not live to see the completion of the project. With Toledo's death in 1567, direction passed to his apprentice, Juan de Herrera, under whom the building was completed in 1584, in slightly less than 21 years. To this day, "la obra de El Escorial" ("the work of El Escorial") is a proverbial expression for a thing that takes a long time to finish.


title: El Escorial

text: Since then, El Escorial has been the burial site for most of the Spanish kings of the last five centuries, Bourbons as well as Habsburgs. The Royal Pantheon contains the tombs of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (who ruled Spain as King Charles I), Philip II, Philip III, Philip IV, Charles II, Louis I, Charles III, Charles IV, Ferdinand VII, Isabella II, Alfonso XII, and Alfonso XIII. Two Bourbon kings, Philip V (who reigned from 1700 to 1724 and again from 1724 to 1746) and Ferdinand VI (1746–1759), as well as King Amadeus (1870–1873), are not buried in the monastery.


title: El Escorial

text: The floor plan of the building is in the form of a gridiron. The traditional belief is that this design was chosen in honor of St. Lawrence, who, in the third century AD, was martyred by being roasted to death on a grill. St. Lawrence's feast day is 10 August, the same date as the 1557 Battle of St. Quentin.


title: El Escorial

text: However, the origin of the building's layout is quite controversial. The grill-like shape, which did not fully emerge until Herrera eliminated from the original conception the six interior towers of the facade, was, by no means, unique to El Escorial. Other buildings had been constructed with churches or chapels fronting on interior courtyards: King's College, Cambridge, dating from 1441, is one such example; the old Ospedale Maggiore, Milan's first hospital, begun in 1456 by Antonio Filarete, is another grid-like building with interior courtyards. In fact, palaces of this approximate design were commonplace in the Byzantine and Arab world. Strikingly similar to El Escorial is the layout of the Alcázar of Seville and the design of the Alhambra at Granada, where, as at El Escorial, two courtyards in succession separate the main portal of the complex from a fully enclosed place of worship.The most persuasive theory for the origin of the floor plan is that it is based on descriptions of the Temple of Solomon by the Judeo-Roman historian Flavius Josephus: a portico followed by a courtyard open to the sky, followed by a second portico and a second courtyard, all flanked by arcades and enclosed passageways, leading to the "holy of holies". Statues of David and Solomon on either side of the entrance to the basilica of El Escorial lend further weight to the theory that this is the true origin of the design. A more personal connection can be drawn between the David-warrior figure, representing Charles V, and his son, the stolid and solomonically prudent Philip II. Echoing the same theme, a fresco in the center of El Escorial's library, a reminder of Solomon's legendary wisdom, affirms Philip's preoccupation with the great Jewish king, his thoughtful and logical character, and his extraordinary, monumental temple.


title: El Escorial

text: The Temple-of-Solomon design, if indeed it was the basis for El Escorial, was extensively modified to accommodate the additional functions Philip II intended the building to serve. Beside being a monastery, El Escorial is also a pantheon, a basilica, a convent, a school, a library, and a royal palace. All these functional demands resulted in a doubling of the building's size from the time of its original conception.


title: El Escorial

text: Built primarily from locally quarried gray granite, square and sparsely ornamented, El Escorial is austere, even forbidding, in its outward appearance, seemingly more like a fortress than a monastery or palace. It takes the form of a gigantic quadrangle, approximately , which encloses a series of intersecting passageways and courtyards. At each of the four corners is a square tower surmounted by a spire, and, near the center of the complex (and taller than the rest), rise the pointed belfries and round dome of the basilica. Philip's instructions to Toledo were simple and clear, directing that the architects should produce "simplicity in the construction, severity in the whole, nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation."


title: El Escorial

text: Aside from its explicit purposes, the complex is also an enormous storehouse of art. In it are displayed masterworks by Titian, Tintoretto, Benvenuto Cellini, El Greco, Velázquez, Rogier van der Weyden, Paolo Veronese, Bernini, Alonso Cano, José de Ribera, Claudio Coello, and others. Giambattista Castello designed the magnificent main staircase. The library contains thousands of priceless manuscripts: for example, the collection of the sultan Zidan Abu Maali, who ruled Morocco from 1603 to 1627, is housed here.


title: El Escorial

text: The main entrance of the El Escorial is the west façade, which has three doors: the middle one leads to the Courtyard of the Kings ("Patio de los Reyes") and the side ones lead to a school and to a monastery. Above the center door is a niche where the image of Saint Lawrence has been placed. The Courtyard of the Kings owes its name to the statues of the Kings of Judah that adorn the façade of the Basílica, located at the east end of the courtyard. Steps of red marble lead to the large, public chapel, past the narthex, with is one of the highlights of the basilica. The basilica has a floor in the shape of a Greek cross and an enormous dome, inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, above the crossing. The naves are covered over by barrel vaults decorated with frescoes by Luca Giordano. The main altarpiece is high and divided into compartments of different sizes where are found bronze sculptures, and canvases painted by Tibaldi, Zuccari, and Leoni. In the sacristy, paintings such as "Joseph's Coat" by Velázquez, "The Last Supper" by Titian, and "The Adoration of the Sacred Host by Charles II" by Claudio Coello are on exhibit.


title: El Escorial

text: Under the royal chapel of the Basilica is the Royal Pantheon crypt. This is the place of burial for the kings of Spain. It is an octagonal Baroque mausoleum made of marble where all of the Spanish monarchs since Charles I have been buried, with the exception of Philip V, Ferdinand VI, and Amadeus of Savoy. The remains of Juan de Borbon, father of King Juan Carlos I of Spain, also rest in this pantheon despite the fact that he never became king himself. The enclosure is presided over by an altar of veined marble, and the sarcophagi are bronze and marble. There is also the Pantheon of the Princes, where the bodies of the queens who did not have a crowned succession and the princes and princesses were laid to rest. This part was built in the nineteenth century.


title: El Escorial

text: Next to the basilica, to the south, is the Courtyard of the Evangelists. This is a gardened patio in whose center rises a magnificent pavilion, by Juan de Herrera, in which one can find sculptures of the Evangelists. Around the courtyard are the galleries of the main cloister, decorated with frescoes by Pellegrino Tibaldi and his workshop, in which scenes from the history of the Redemption are represented. In the East gallery, one finds the splendid main staircase with a fresco-decorated vaulted ceiling depicting "The glory of the Spanish monarchy", painted by Luca Giordano in 1692.


title: El Escorial

text: The Palace of the Austrians ("Palacio de los Austrias"), also known as the House of the King ("Casa del Rey"), is found behind the presbytery of the basilica. The outbuildings of this palace, of Italian style, are distributed around the Courtyard of the Fountainheads ("Patio de los Mascarones"). Inside the House of the King are the "Sala de las Batallas" (Hall of Battles), which contains frescoes of the battles of San Quintín and Higueruela, among others. The next building contains the rooms of Philip II and of the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia. Another outbuilding is that of Alcoba del Rey, housing the bed in which Philip II died.


title: El Escorial

text: The basilica of San Lorenzo el Real, the central building in the El Escorial complex, was originally designed, like most of the late Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe, to take the form of a Latin cross. As such, it has a long nave on the east–west axis intersected by a shorter transept, about three-quarters of the way between the west entrance and the high altar. This plan was modified by Juan de Herrera to that of a Greek cross, a form with all four arms of equal length. Coincident with this shift in approach, the bell towers at the western end of the church were somewhat reduced in size and the small half-dome intended to stand over the altar was replaced with a full circular dome over the center of the church, where the four arms of the Greek cross meet.


title: El Escorial

text: Clearly Juan Bautista de Toledo's experience with the dome of St. Peter's basilica in Rome influenced the design of El Escorial's basilica. However, the Roman dome is supported by ranks of tapered Corinthian columns, with their extravagant capitals of acanthus leaves and their elaborately fluted shafts, while the dome at El Escorial, soaring nearly into the air, is supported by four heavy granite piers connected by simple Romanesque arches and decorated by simple Doric pilasters, plain, solid, and largely unprepossessing. It would not be a flight of fancy to interpret St. Peter's as the quintessential expression of Baroque sensuality and the basilica at El Escorial as a statement of the stark rigidity and grim purposefulness of the Inquisition, the two sides of the Counter-Reformation.


title: El Escorial

text: The most richly decorated part of the church is the area surrounding the high altar. Behind the altar is a three-tiered "reredos", or altar screen, made of red granite and jasper, nearly tall, adorned with gilded bronze statuary by Leone Leoni, and three sets of religious paintings commissioned by Philip II. To either side are gilded life-size bronzes of the kneeling family groups of Charles and Philip, also by Leoni, with help from his son Pompeo. In a shallow niche at the center of the lowest level is the tabernacle, a repository for the physical elements of the communion ceremony, a so-called "House of the Sacrament", designed by Juan de Herrera in jasper and bronze. It was built between 1579 and 1586 by Jacopo da Trezzo.


title: El Escorial

text: To decorate the "reredos", the king's preferences had been Michelangelo or Titian, but both of these giants were already more than eighty years old and in frail health. Consequently, Philip consulted his foreign ambassadors for recommendations, and the result was a lengthy parade of the lesser European artists of that time, all swanning through the construction site at El Escorial seeking the king's favor.


title: El Escorial

text: One chapel exhibits the famous "Crucifix" carved in white marble by Benvenuto Cellini. This statue of Christ is unusual because it was represented fully nude; although for modesty it wears one cloth covering the genitals.


title: El Escorial

text: Situated next to the main altar of the Basilica, the residence of King Philip II consists of a series of austerely decorated rooms. It features a window from which the king could observe mass from his bed when incapacitated by the gout that afflicted him.


title: El Escorial

text: The gallery was originally called the King's Gallery (Galería del Rey) but came to be known as the Hall of Battles (Sala de Batallas) for its fresco paintings depicting the most important Spanish military victories. These include a medieval victory over the Moors, as well as several of Philip's campaigns against the French.


title: El Escorial

text: This chamber consists of twenty-six marble sepulchres containing the remains of the kings and queens regnant (the only queen regnant since Philip II being Isabella II) of the Habsburg and Bourbon dynasties, from Charles I to the present, except for Philip V and Ferdinand VI.


title: El Escorial

text: The sepulchres also contain the remains of royal consorts who were parents of monarchs. The only king consort is Francis of Asis de Bourbon, husband of Queen Isabella II and father of Alphonse XII.


title: El Escorial

text: The most recent monarch interred in the pantheon is King Alphonse XIII, removed there from the Church of Santa Maria in Monserrato, Rome in 1980. The remains of Alphonse XIII's wife, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg were interred in the pantheon in 2011.The remains of Alphonse XIII's third son Juan, Count of Barcelona, and daughter-in-law Maria de las Mercedes (the father and mother of the former king Juan Carlos I), lie at a prepared place called a "pudridero," or decaying chamber, awaiting interment in the Pantheon of the Kings. With the interment of these remains, all the sepulchres in the pantheon will be filled. No decision has yet been announced as to the final resting place of now-abdicated Juan Carlos, Queen Sofía, Felipe VI, Queen Letizia, and any future monarchs and consorts.


title: El Escorial

text: There are two "pudrideros" at El Escorial, one for the Pantheon of the Kings and the other for the Pantheon of the Princes. These can only be visited by monks from the Monastery. In these rooms, the remains of the deceased are placed in a small leaden urn, which in turn will be placed in the marble sepulchres of the appropriate pantheon after the passage of fifty years, the estimated time necessary for the complete decomposition of the bodies.


title: El Escorial

text: The interment of the remains of Queen Victoria Eugenie and the Count and Countess of Barcelona in the Royal Pantheon will each constitute an exception to tradition. First, Victoria Eugenie, although the wife of a king, was never the mother of a king in the strict sense. Secondly, the Count of Barcelona never reigned as king, although he was head of the Spanish royal family between the renunciation of his father's rights on 14 January 1941 and his renunciation of his own rights in favour of his son Juan Carlos I on 14 May 1977. Thirdly, the Countess of Barcelona was the mother of a king but not the wife of a king. However, some consider the Count of Barcelona to have been "de jure" King of Spain from 1941 to 1977, which in turn would make him, his mother, Queen Victoria Eugenie, and his wife, the Countess of Barcelona, eligible for interment in the Pantheon of Kings.


title: El Escorial

text: There has already been one exception to tradition: Elisabeth of Bourbon is for the moment the only queen in the pantheon who has not been mother to a king. That is because her only son, the presumed heir to the throne, died after her but before he could become king. But she is the great-grandmother of Philip V (by her daughter Maria Theresa of Spain) and she is an ancestor of the King of Spain.


title: El Escorial

text: All of the wood used in El Escorial comes from the ancient forests of Sagua La Grande, on the so-called Golden Coast of Cuba.


title: El Escorial

text: The pantheon's name in Spanish is Panteón de Infantes. Completed in 1888, this group of nine burial chapels is the final resting place of princes, princesses, and consorts other than the parents of monarchs. With floors and ceiling of white marble, the tomb of Prince John of Austria is especially notable.


title: El Escorial

text: Among the more recent interments is that of Infante Alphonse in October 1992. The younger brother of King Juan Carlos I, he was buried originally in Portugal, after being killed in a still-mysterious 1956 shooting at the family home in Estoril.


title: El Escorial

text: In 1994, King Juan Carlos I signed a decree raising his cousin and close personal friend Carlos, Duke of Calabria to the status of a Spanish "infante", making him eligible for interment in the Pantheon of the Princes. Upon his death in October 2015, his funeral was held at El Escorial and his body placed in the "pudridero", awaiting future interment in the pantheon.


title: El Escorial

text: Consists of works of the German, Flemish, Venetian, Lombard, Ligurian and more Italian and Spanish schools from the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries.


title: El Escorial

text: Its eleven rooms showcase the tools, cranes and other materials used in the construction of the edifice, as well as reproductions of blueprints and documents related to the project.


title: El Escorial

text: Constructed at the order of Philip II, a great lover of nature, these constitute an ideal place for repose and meditation. Manuel Azaña, who studied in the monastery's Augustinian-run school, mentions them in his "Memorias" (Memoirs) and his play "El jardín de los frailes" (The Garden of the Friars). Students at the school still use it today to study and pass the time.


title: El Escorial

text: The Escorial has three libraries. One is located behind the Chorus of the basilica. Another, within the monastery itself, used to be distributed to the different cells and rooms of the monks and that the Augustine monks have gradually managed make their own. Finally, the Royal Library, which is public and exists under a special papal bull of protection.


title: El Escorial

text: From the beginning, the Royal Library was meant to be a monumental work of art, and its execution was commissioned to prominent architects of the moment: Juan de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, who shared the king's neoplatonic views and who also designed the library's shelves. It constituted, along with the basilica, the heart of the entire project, and the project was redrafted several times to accommodate changes in the organization of the library itself. As was usual for Juan de Herrera's work, it was the most advanced of its kind in Europe. It was the first library on the continent that broke with medieval design. Domenico Fontana was inspired by Herrera's design, after a visit, for his design of the Vatican Library. Philip was involved in every part of the design process of the library.


title: El Escorial

text: The Royal Library, like everything else in El Escorial, forms part of a larger symbolic structure and has symbolic meaning. It links the monastery and the seminary across the principal axis of the building, symbolizing the union of the spiritual and physical world. The books on the profane subjects—such as history, geography, and botany—are located in the part closest to the entrance. The library corridors branch out into different sections just to re-converge in the end, and as they advance towards the basilica, the subjects are the more abstract forms—such as poetry, grammar, and mathematics. The subjects closest to the basilica are those the king conceived as being the most abstract distillations of the others, and the closest to the origin, which was God in the Basilica: theology, geometry, and mathematics. The visitor must leave the noisy world behind and walk through the halls of knowledge in a specific, comprehensible order from concreteness to abstraction before being able to reach God and understand His message, a notion quite in line with both Charles I and Philip II's hermeticist view of religion.


title: El Escorial

text: During Philip II's reign, the library introduced a novel way of arranging the library's bookcases or "book presses". Until then most book presses were combined with desks and stood at right angles to the library's walls. This system was known as the "stall system" and allowed light from the library's windows to illuminate the shelves. Phillip's library began using a "wall system", placing the bookcases along the walls.


title: El Escorial

text: Currently the library has more than 40,000 volumes, located in a great hall in length, wide, and tall, with marble floors and beautifully carved wood shelves. De Herrera and Italian construction engineer Giussep Flecha y Gamboa were careful to consider the security of the library's holdings in armarios (large bookcases), as well as their display, safeguards against fire hazards, and use of available natural lighting. This library was a Renaissance statement of power, majesty, prowess, and intellectual world leadership, designed for both the preservation of the old (binding multiple cultural histories into a single Catholic Spanish culture) and discovery of the new (imprinted by that culture).


title: El Escorial

text: The vault of the library's ceiling is decorated with frescoes, painted by Pellegrino Tibaldi, depicting the seven liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. This arrangement of parallel book cases was initiated by Philip II and was called the "wall system".


title: El Escorial

text: The fire of 1671, which engulfed the library, destroyed about 5,280 handwritten codices, but the printed collections were saved. The printed collection of the library is made up of more than 600 incunabules, 10,608 books from the 16th century, 2,179 books from the 17th century, and an increasing number of books from the 18th century. The manuscript collection is made up of a few thousands of medieval codices.


title: El Escorial

text: Philip II donated his personal collection of documents to the building, and also undertook the acquisition of the finest libraries and works of Western European Humanism. During Phillip's reign, there was an entire room dedicated to ancient manuscripts, most of them in Latin, many in Greek, but also some in Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Italian, French, and Spanish. There were approximately 1,800 Arabic titles. The first of those books were acquired in 1571 through Juan Paez de Castro. After that many books were obtained as a "peace price" during the many battles of the Spanish Empire with the Ottoman Empire. As part of his active efforts, in 1571 Philip II bought a large portion of the collection of Gonzalo Pérez, one of his advisors. This meant 57 original Greek, from Sicily, manuscripts, and 112 Latin ones, from Calabria. He also bought 315 original volumes, in Greek and Arabic, from Juan Páez de Castro's personal library. The king charged specific ambassadors with traveling through his Empire and neighboring kingdoms searching and buying the best for El Escorial's library. These ambassadors were coordinated by the head librarian, who had total authority to direct their movements, and who stayed in contact with them through all their travels. Diego Guzmán de Silva was one such ambassador and made one of the most important purchases for the library during his time in Venice: an ancient collection of Greek manuscripts and Latin codices (1569–1577).


title: El Escorial

text: An inventory prepared in 1576 counted 4,546 volumes, over 2,000 manuscripts, and 2,500 printed books. That same year the library of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, the most valuable in Spain at the time, was bought. It included 850 codices and over 1,000 printed volumes. At this point, the size of the library was such that Benito Arias Montano had to be specially hired to organize the books and classify them by language, in addition to subject. In the 1580s the Library acquired some of its most unique pieces. Jorge Beteta donated a manuscript of the "Concilios visigóticos" (the Visigothic Councils) from the ninth century. Philip acquired several books from the Library of Granada, that belonged to Isabela of Castile, including her Libro the Horas of astonishing visual beauty. Other valuable libraries acquired by Philip were the library of Pedro Fajardo, and of Antonio Agustín, one of the largest in Spain at the time. Not all of those books are still in El Escorial, since many ended up in the Vatican; but around a thousand of them can still be found there. The king actively purchased rare books—often on esoteric, scientific, or theological subjects—from the East. He also collected and preserved over four hundred books prohibited by the Inquisition, which he agreed should not be available for those likely to "misunderstand" them but only to experts. By 1602, the library had a large cartographic collection and over 150 mathematical instruments.


title: El Escorial

text: Before his death, Philip II left in his last will a pension for the Escorial Library, to ensure that it would still be able to acquire new volumes.


title: El Escorial

text: Philip III continued his father's policy of protection and enrichment of the library, even though he was not theologically inclined. In addition to continuing the search for, and purchase of, especially valuable and old books, he promulgated a new decree, according to which the library of El Escorial ought to receive a copy of every book published inside the Empire. Of course, the orders of continuing to search for books for the library were still in place. Arias Montano donated a large number of original Hebrew manuscripts, and Admiral Luis Fajardo brought back the complete Zaydani library captured during his wars with the Sultan Muley Zidán.


title: El Escorial

text: The library reached its peak under Philip IV. In 1671 a great fire destroyed 5280 codices; the main hall, in which the printed books were kept, was saved. Among the most important losses were the "Concilios visigóticos" and the "Historia natural de las Indias" ("Natural History of the Indies"), a 19-volume encyclopedia on biology and botany by Francisco Hernández de Toledo. After the fire, the priest Antonio de San José spent over 25 years reclassifying and taking inventories of the surviving copies. His list of surviving books counted 45,000. Shortly after, as the Habsburg dynasty came to its end and the Bourbons took the throne after the War of the Spanish Succession, a further loss took place, as the Bourbon kings reversed the trend of acquiring books for the library and instead proceeded to take books to send to France or to their own libraries.


title: El Escorial

text: Currently, the library has over 40,000 volumes. The library includes many important illuminated manuscripts, such as the Ottonian Golden Gospels of Henry III (1045–46). The only known copy of the "Kitab al-I'tibar", a 12th-century Syrian autobiography, was discovered there in the 19th century.


title: El Escorial

text: Following a rule approved by the Council of Trent dealing with the veneration of saints, Philip II donated to the monastery one of the largest reliquaries in all of Catholic Christendom. The collection consists of some 7,500 relics, which are stored in 570 sculpted reliquaries designed by Juan de Herrera, with most being constructed by the artisan Juan de Arfe Villafañe. These reliquaries are found in highly varied forms (heads, arms, pyramidal cases, coffers, etc.) and are distributed throughout the monastery, with the most important being concentrated in the basilica.


title: El Escorial

text: Juan de Herrera also designed the Casas de Oficios (Official Buildings) opposite the monastery's north façade; and his successor, Francisco de Mora, designed the Casa de la Compaña (Company Quarters).


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political and non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Order of Odd Fellows founded in England during the 18th century, the IOOF was originally chartered by the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity in England but has operated as an independent organization since 1842, although it maintains an inter-fraternal relationship with the English Order. The order is also known as the "Triple Link Fraternity", referring to the order's "Triple Links" symbol, alluding to its motto "Friendship, Love and Truth".


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: While several unofficial Odd Fellows Lodges had existed in New York City circa 1806–1818, because of its charter relationship, the American Odd Fellows is regarded as being founded with "Washington Lodge No 1" in Baltimore at the Seven Stars Tavern on April 26, 1819, by Thomas Wildey along with some associates who assembled in response to an advertisement in the New Republic. The following year, the lodge affiliated with the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity and was granted the authority to institute new lodges. Previously, Wildey had joined the Grand United Order of Oddfellows (1798-) in 1804 but followed through with the split of Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity (1810–) before immigrating to the United States in 1817.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: In 1842, after an elementary dispute on authority, the American Lodges formed a governing system separate from the English Order, and in 1843 assumed the name Independent Order of Odd Fellows.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Like countless other fraternities, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows began by limiting their membership to white men only. Some years later, the IOOF became the first fraternity in the United States to include (white) women when it adopted the "Beautiful Rebekah Degree" on September 20, 1851, by initiative of Schuyler Colfax, later Vice-President of the United States.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Beyond fraternal and recreational activities, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows promotes the ethic of reciprocity and charity, by implied inspiration of Judeo-Christian ethics. The largest Sovereign Grand Lodge of all fraternal orders of Odd Fellows since the 19th century, it enrolls some 600,000 members divided in approximately 10,000 lodges into 26 countries, inter-fraternally recognized by the second largest, the British-seated Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: While several unofficial Odd Fellows lodges had existed in New York City sometime in the period 1806 to 1818, the American Odd Fellows is regarded as being founded with "Washington Lodge No 1" in Baltimore at the Seven Stars Tavern on April 26, 1819, by Thomas Wildey along with some associates who assembled in response to a newspaper advertisement. The following year, the lodge affiliated with the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity was granted the authority to institute new lodges. Wildey had joined the Grand United Order of Oddfellows in 1804, then joined its splinter order, Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity, before immigrating to the United States in 1817.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: In 1842, after an elementary dispute on whether the American lodges were to be involved in decision-making procedures, in a split along racial lines, some American Lodges formed with exclusively whites-only membership and a separate governing system from the English Order. In 1843, they changed the name of their organization to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: In the following years, lodges were instituted all over the country, first in the east and later in the west. Also in 1842, the English Oddfellow Grand Lodges issued a warrant to an African American sailor named Peter Ogden from New York City; unlike Wildey and the IOOF, Ogden and the African American Odd Fellows lodges never separated from the English order, and they remain part of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows (GUOOF), still headquartered in Philadelphia.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: On September 20, 1851, IOOF became the first national fraternity to accept both men and women when it formed the Daughters of Rebekah. Schuyler Colfax (Vice President of the United States (1869–1873) under President Ulysses S. Grant) was the force behind the movement. Both the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs have appendant branches known as Encampments and Patriarchs Militant.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The American Civil War (1861–1865) shattered the IOOF in America; membership decreased and many lodges were unable to continue their work, especially in the southern States. After the Civil War, with the beginning of industrialization, the deteriorating social circumstances brought large numbers of people to the IOOF and the lodges rallied.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Over the next half-century, also known as the "Golden age of fraternalism" in America, the Odd Fellows became the largest among all fraternal organizations, (at the time, even larger than Freemasonry). By 1889, the IOOF had lodges in every American state. Compared to Masonic lodges, membership in the Odd Fellows lodges tended to be more common among the lower middle class and skilled workers and less common among the wealthy white collar workers and professionals.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: By the late nineteenth century, the Order had spread to most of the rest of the world, establishing lodges in the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. According to the Journal of the Annual Communication of the Sovereign Grand Lodge 1922, page 426, there were a reported 2,676,582 members. While this data from 1921 may not be the exact zenith of its membership, the organization experienced a loss in membership of 23.5% between 1920 and 1930, explained in large part by the development of the commercial insurance industry, and has continually declined.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Great Depression and the introduction of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal brought a decline in membership. During the depression, people could not afford Odd Fellows membership fees, and when the New Deal's social reforms started to take effect, the need for the social work of the Odd Fellows declined.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: In 1971 the IOOF changed its constitution, removing its whites only clause. In 1979 the Order had 243,000 members.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Some branches of the order ("i.e.", some countries) have allowed women to join the Odd Fellows itself, leading to the Rebekahs' decline in importance. Also, the appendant branches and their degrees are, in some countries, becoming regarded as less important or too time-consuming, and are gradually being abandoned.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Although there was a decline in membership in fraternal organizations in general during the 20th century, membership in the 21st century started to increase.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The IOOF continues in the 21st century with lodges around the world, and is claimed to be the "largest united international fraternal order in the world under one head", with every lodge working with the Sovereign Grand Lodge located in the United States. Also, the Independent Order of Oddfellows Manchester Unity and the IOOF have recognized each other inter-fraternally; members of the Manchester Unity and the IOOF can visit each other's lodges, and are welcome as brothers and sisters. Currently, there are about 12,000 lodges with nearly 600,000 members.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: As an organization, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows aims to provide a framework that promotes personal and social development. Lodge degrees and activities aim to improve and elevate every person to a higher, nobler plane; to extend sympathy and aid to those in need, making their burdens lighter, relieving the darkness of despair; to war against vice in every form, and to be a great moral power and influence for the good of humanity. Teachings in the Order are conducted through the exemplification of the Degrees of membership. The Degrees are conferred on the candidate by their Lodge, and are teachings of principles and truths by ceremonies and symbols. The Degrees are presented largely by means of allegory and drama. For Odd Fellows, the degrees in Odd Fellowship emphasize a leaving of the old life and the start of a better one, of welcoming travelers, and of helping those in need. Lodges also provide an international social network of members in 26 countries. The command of the IOOF is to "visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan". Specifically, IOOF has stated the following purposes:


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: There was one Odd Fellows Lodge in the country, Buenos Ayres Lodge no.1 instituted on January 1, 1903, with 32 members. The most recent report from the lodge was received by the Sovereign Grand Lodge in 1912.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: A lodge of the Order of Loyal and Independent Odd Fellows was in existence in the state of New South Wales on February 24, 1836. The lodge was established in New Zealand in 1843. An Australian Supreme Grand Lodge was established in Victoria sometime in the year 1850 and this body made negotiations for affiliation with the Grand Lodge of the United States in 1861. It is also noted that an Ancient Independent Order of Odd Fellows was in existence from 1861 to 1954 in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Austria was first formed as a club in 1911. After WWI, conditions changed and the club was instituted as Friedens Lodge no.1 on June 4, 1922, in Vienna followed by Ikarius Lodge no.2, Pestalozzi Lodge no.3 and Fridtjof Nansen Lodge no.4. Mozart Lager Encampment no.1 was also instituted on June 3, 1932.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Belgia Lodge no.1, was instituted on June 13, 1911, in Antwerp. On March 15, 1975, Aurora Rebekah Lodge no.1 was instituted in Antwerp. Two more Odd Fellows Lodges were opened in the country.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first I.O.O.F store in Brazil was established on February 16, 2020. It was a historic date for the country. A special delegation was sent to the country with 3 people, Edward Johnson, Michelle Heckart and Hank Dupray to assist in the foundation. Brazil Lodge N 01. was opened with 18 founding members and the first Noble Grand in Brazil was Gabriel Boni Sutil. Brazil Lodge N 01 remains open and members are working on the growth of the IOOF in the country.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Two lodges under the Manchester Unity of Independent Order of Odd Fellows known as Royal Wellington Lodge no.1 and Loyal Bon Accorde Lodge no.2 existed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as early as 1815. The IOOF in Canada has 7 Grand Lodges, namely: Grand Lodge of Alberta, Grand Lodge of Atlantic Provinces, Grand Lodge of British Columbia, Grand Lodge of Manitoba, Grand Lodge of Ontario, Grand Lodge of Quebec and Grand Lodge of Saskatchewan.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first Lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, known as Valparaiso Lodge No.1, was instituted by Dr. Cornelius Logan, Grand Sire, on April 15, 1874. Four additional lodges were instituted in the following years, and a Grand Lodge of Chile was instituted on November 18, 1875. However, due to the political situation in the country, the lodges in the country were reduced to 3 active lodges in 1888 and the charter of the Grand Lodge was surrendered. In September 2012, there were 3 Odd Fellows Lodges and 3 Rebekahs Lodges in the country.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Cuba when Porvenir Lodge no.1 was instituted in Havana on August 26, 1883. More lodges were then instituted the following years. In 2012 there were about 116 Odd Fellows Lodges, 50 Rebekahs Lodges, 33 Encampments, 12 cantons and 2 Junior Lodges, totaling to about 15,000 members in Cuba.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first attempt to establish the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in what later became the Czech Republic was in 1905 through the formation of Friendship Lodge No. 8 in Saxony. But the unstable political and social condition of the country hampered development. The actual development of the IOOF began after the creation of Czechoslovakia. However, Lodges were banned and cancelled during WWII. The IOOF began to re-activate lodges in 1989, building the first Odd Fellows Hall in the Czech Republic in 1996. In 2010, Martel Rebekah Lodge No.4 was founded as the lodge for women.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in the Kingdom of Denmark in 1878 and the Rebekahs in 1881. In September 2012, IOOF had over 112 Odd Fellow Lodges and 94 Rebekah Lodges, with a total membership of 14,500 in Denmark. The IOOF Grand Lodge headquarters of the Kingdom of Denmark is located at the Odd Fellow Palace in Copenhagen.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was formally established in the Dominican Republic when Dr. Joaquin Balaguer Lodge no.1 was founded on February 24, 2007, in the City of San Cristobal.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded in Estonia when 1 Odd Fellows Lodge was founded by the Grand Lodge of Finland in 1993 and a Rebekah lodge in 1995.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: After the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Grand Lodge of Sweden was established in 1895, the interest in Odd Fellowship was awakened in Finland. After Finland had declared independence in 1917, the idea of an Odd Fellows Lodge in Finland was raised again. A few interested people from the town Vaasa in Ostrobothnia province were able to join the Swedish Odd Fellow lodges until the Sovereign Grand Lodge finally permitted the Grand Lodge of Sweden to officially establish the IOOF in Finland in 1925. The first lodge established was named Wasa Lodge no.1 in the coastal town of Vaasa. Additional lodges were then formed in Helsinki in 1927 and a third lodge in Turku in 1931. Odd Fellows in Finland encountered great difficulties in the 1930s and during the wartime. Especially the question of premises was quite difficult for many years. However, all three lodges which had been established before the war continued their activities almost without interruption. Only after the war, in the year 1951 was the next lodge established. Since then, the development has been steady and quite rapid. In the beginning of the 1980s, the number of brother lodges was 35 and the number of sister lodges 19 leading to the institution of the Grand Lodge of Finland on June 2, 1984. In the year 2008, there were 57 Odd Fellows lodges and 48 Rebekah lodges in Finland with about 8,200 members.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established on December 1, 1870, in Württemberg, Germany, by Dr. John F. Morse, a Past Grand Master in California and a member of California Odd Fellows Lodge No. 1 of San Francisco, California, U.S.A. After the institution of Württemberg Lodge, other lodges were instituted including Germania Lodge No. 1 in Berlin on March 30, 1871; Helvetia Lodge No. 1 in Zurich, Switzerland on April 2, 1871; Saxonia Lodge No. 1 in Dresden on June 6, 1871; and Schiller Lodge No. 3 in Stuttgart on May 25, 1872. During the first decades, many lodges were instituted including 56 lodges in the 1870s, 20 lodges in the 1880s, 41 lodges in the 1890s, and the membership totaled almost 4,000 brothers. The formal establishment of the IOOF Grand Lodge of the German Empire was on December 28, 1872.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Iceland was founded in August 1897 under the Jurisdiction of the IOOF Grand Lodge of Kingdom of Denmark, until it established the Grand Lodge of Iceland on January 31, 1948. In December 2017, there were 28 Odd Fellows Lodges, 18 Rebekah Lodges, 6 Odd Fellow Encampments and 5 Rebekah Encampments – about 3,900 members.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was first introduced in the country when Colombo Lodge no.1 was instituted in Naples in 1895.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first lodge in Mexico under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, known as Ridgely Lodge no.1, was instituted on August 5, 1882. Several Lodges were opened the following years reaching up to 5 Lodges in 1895. However, the political situation affected their progress. In 2012, there was one Odd Fellows Lodge and one Rebekah Lodge re-instituted in 1996.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: "Paradijs Loge nr. 1" (Paradise Lodge No. 1) was founded in Amsterdam on March 19, 1877, by "L. Elkan" and "G.E. van Erpen", former members of an Odd Fellows lodge in the United States. This initiative commenced in 1876, but initially the Dutch Government was not pleased. It subsequently stopped its resistance later in the same year. The translation of the rituals was the next problem, combined with the recognition by the "Soeverine Loge" (Sovereign Grand Lodge). Eventually the founder of the German Order, "Ostheim", was appointed "Gedeputeerd Groot Sire voor Nederland" and installed the first Dutch board. In 1899, lodges were established in The Hague and Groningen. Also in 1899, the first "Nederlandse Grootorde" (Grand Lodge of Netherlands) was founded. On September 2, 1911, the first Belgian Lodge, "Belgia Loge nr. 201", was established in Antwerp, and the Order changed its name to "Orde in Nederland en België".


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Various orders of Odd Fellows have existed in Nigeria since the 1800s. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows re-established lodges in the country in 2008. In January 2012, there were four Odd Fellow lodges in the country.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Norway in 1898 and is one of the strongest jurisdictions in terms of membership. In January 2010, there were 151 Odd Fellow Lodges and 125 Rebekah Lodges and about 23,414 members in the country.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Isthmian Canal Lodge No. 1, was instituted at Gorgona, September 17, 1907, in Panama. The charter was secured upon the application of named petitioners. Officers were installed. A special meeting was announced to institute a class of 25 on October 5, 1907.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Poland in Poznan in 1876 and in Wroclaw (then Breslau) in 1879. A Regional Grand Lodge of Silesia and Poznan was established in 1885, which opened lodges in Bydgoszcz in 1895, Gniezno in 1896, Torun in 1898, Gdansk in 1899, Pila 1899 and Grudziadz in 1901. After World War I, six Odd Fellows lodges worked in the Polish lands: in Poznań "Kosmos-Loge" in Inowroclaw "Astrea-Loge" in Bydgoszcz "Emanuel Schweizer Gedächnits Loge" in Gniezno "Friedens-Loge" in Torun "Coppernicus -Loge" and Grudziadz "Ostheim-Loge." Moreover, in Gdansk Gedania-Loge "and the camp" Vistula-Lager" existed. In addition to the above-mentioned, there were 18 IOOF lodges in the Lower Silesia, including as many as five in Wroclaw, "Morse", "Moltke," Phönix "Freundschaft" and "Caritas". In the years 1925 to 1926, they built a new, modern building for their headquarters. It was projected by A. Radig, and it stands in today's Hallera Street in Wroclaw.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was formally established in Puerto Rico when Boriken Lodge No. 1 was instituted on November 6, 1899, with the help of several members from Florida, New Jersey and New York Lodges of the IOOF. Naborias Rebekahs Lodge No. 1 was also formed in the country.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Filipinos first embraced the fraternalism of the Odd Fellows during the revolutionary era as a reaction to the perceived abuses by their Spanish colonists, and by 1898, had formed several military lodges and Odd Fellows Association in Manila. According to their own records, the early membership consisted primarily of military officers and government officials. The organization failed during World War II, and was not reformed until November 21, 2009. In 2019 there were 25 active Odd Fellows lodges, 1 Rebekah Lodge, 3 Encampments and 2 Cantons of the Patriarchs Militant located in various towns and cities in the country.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: Andalucia Rebekah Lodge no.1 was established in 1995, and Costa del Sol Lodge no.1 was founded in the country by members of the IOOF from Denmark and Norway in 2002.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Sweden was first established in Malmo, Sweden, in 1884, and a Grand Lodge of the Kingdom of Sweden was instituted in 1895. In 2012, Sweden held the strongest membership in IOOF with more than 174 Odd Fellow Lodges, 113 Rebekah Lodges, and over 40,000 members.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was first established in Switzerland on June 19, 1871, when Helvetia Lodge no.1 was instituted in Zurich by Dr. Morse of California and Mr. Schaettle and Bernheim, members of the fraternity in Germany. The IOOF Grand Lodge of Switzerland was established on April 22, 1874.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first Lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was established in Uruguay on February 9, 1966, known as Artigas Lodge no.1. The Rebekahs was also established on November 19, 1966, known as Amanecer Rebekah Lodge no.1. Additional lodges, Uruguay Lodge no.2, Horizontes Rebekah Lodge no.2 and El Ceibo Lodge have been instituted and 5 lodges meet in the same hall in Montevideo.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The first lodge under the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded in the City of Caracas, Venezuela, on August 2, 1986, known as Pakritti Lodge no.1.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: There are IOOF lodges in at least 29 countries: Each Grand Lodge has a number of subordinate lodges that report to them.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: In the IOOF system, different degrees are conferred depending on whether one is initiated into the Daughters of Rebekah or the Oddfellows proper.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: For Oddfellows, four lodge degrees; three higher, encampment degrees; and one Patriarchs Militant degree are conferred.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: For Rebekahs, one lodge degree, one encampment degree, and one Ladies Auxiliary Patriarchs Militant (LAPM) degree are conferred.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans (AMOS), an IOOF appendant body, confers two degrees. The Ladies of the Orient (LOTO), an appendant body of the Daughters of Rebekahs, similarly confers two degrees.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: To fully understand the purposes and principles of Odd Fellowship, instruction in ceremonial form is divided into degrees. These degrees are dramatic in form and aim to emulate and impart the principles of the fraternity: Friendship, Love, Truth, Faith, Hope, Charity and Universal Justice. Each degree consists of symbols that aim to teach a practical moral code and encourages members to live and act upon them to act positive change upon the world. In the past, when most Odd Fellows lodges offered financial benefits for the sick and distressed members, such symbols, passwords and hand signs were used as proof of membership and to protect the lodge funds from impostors. These symbols, signs and passwords have been carried forward to modern times as a tradition. The most widely encountered symbol of the IOOF – on signs, buildings and gravemarkers – is the three-link chain ("the Chain With Three Links", the "Triple Links") with initials 'F', 'L' and 'T' signifying Friendship, Love and Truth.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Rebekah Lodges were founded on September 20, 1851, when, after considerable debate, the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows voted to adopt the Rebekah Degree, largely due to the efforts of Schuyler Colfax. The first Rebekah Degrees were honorary awards only, conferred on wives and daughters of Odd Fellows at special lodge meetings, and recipients were known as "Daughters of Rebekah", taken from the Biblical character of Rebekah.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans (AMOS) is an unofficial, oriental-styled auxiliary body of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, formed in 1924 by amalgamation of several previous bodies dating back to the end of the 19th century. Only male Odd Fellows in good standing with their subordinate lodges are eligible to join. In 1950, the Sovereign Grand Lodge recognized AMOS as "The Playground of Odd Fellowship." AMOS is only presently active in the United States and Canada, though it once also existed in Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: The Junior Lodge was established in 1921 initially under the name the "Loyal Sons of the Junior Order of Odd fellows", for boys interested in odd fellowship. The ritual and ceremonies were supervised by a member of the senior order. There were 4,873 members in 1970. Membership is open to boys of age 8–21, its motto being "Honor and Fidelity", and its symbolic colours silver and dark blue.


title: Independent Order of Odd Fellows

text: In April 1865, a monument was erected to Wildey in Baltimore, consisting of a statue atop a Doric column that is 52 feet in height. The monument is located on 123 North Broadway at Lamley St. (between East Baltimore and East Fayette Streets).


title: Paratrooper

text: A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation. Paratroopers are often used in surprise attacks, to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges.


title: Paratrooper

text: Paratroopers jump out of airplanes and use parachutes to land safely on the ground. This is one of the three types of "forced entry" strategic techniques for entering a theater of war; the other two being by land and by water. Their tactical advantage of entering the battlefield from the air is that they can attack areas not directly accessible by other transport. The ability of air assault to enter the battlefield from any location allows paratroopers to evade emplaced fortifications that guard from attack from a specific direction. The possible use of paratroopers also forces defenders to spread out to protect other areas which would otherwise be safe. Another common use for paratroopers is to establish an airhead for landing other units, as at the Battle of Crete.


title: Paratrooper

text: This doctrine was first practically applied to warfare by the Italians and the Soviets. The first operational military parachute jump from 1600 feet was logged in the night of August 8/9 1918 by Italian assault troops. Arditi Lieutenant jumped from a Savoia-Pomilio SP.4 aircraft of the piloted by Canadian Major William George Barker and British Captain William Wedgwood Benn (both Royal Air Force pilots), when Tandura dropped behind Austro-Hungarian lines near Vittorio Veneto on a reconnaissance and sabotage mission, followed on later nights by Lts. Ferruccio Nicoloso and Pier Arrigo Barnaba.


title: Paratrooper

text: The first extensive use of paratroopers ("Fallschirmjäger") was by the Germans during World War II. Later in the conflict paratroopers were used extensively by the Allied Forces. Cargo aircraft of the period (for example the German Ju 52 and the American C-47) being small, they rarely, if ever, jumped in groups much larger than 20 from one aircraft. In English, this load of paratroopers is called a "stick", while any load of soldiers gathered for air movement is known as a "chalk". The terms come from the common use of white chalk on the sides of aircraft and vehicles to mark and update numbers of personnel and equipment being emplaned.


title: Paratrooper

text: In World War II, paratroopers most often used parachutes of a circular design. These parachutes could be steered to a small degree by pulling on the risers (four straps connecting the paratrooper's harness to the connectors) and suspension lines which attach to the parachute canopy itself. German paratroopers, whose harnesses had only a single riser attached at the back, could not manipulate their parachutes in such a manner. Today, paratroopers still use round parachutes, or round parachutes modified so as to be more fully controlled with toggles. The parachutes are usually deployed by a static line. Mobility of the parachutes is often deliberately limited to prevent scattering of the troops when a large number parachute together.


title: Paratrooper

text: Some military exhibition units and special forces units use "ram-air" parachutes, which offer a high degree of maneuverability and are deployed manually (without a static line) from the desired altitude. Some use high-altitude military parachuting, also deploying manually.


title: Paratrooper

text: Many countries have one or several paratrooper units, usually associated to the national Army or Air Force, but in some cases to the Navy.


title: Paratrooper

text: In 1944, Argentina became the second country on the continent of South America to use Paratroopers, after Peru. The first paratroopers were issued jump helmets similar to that used by the British at the time, with other equipment based on the Fallschirmjäger. The 4th Parachute Brigade (4 Brigada Paracaidista) is a unit of the Argentine Army specialised in airborne assault operations. It is based in Córdoba, Córdoba Province. The Rapid Deployment Force (FDR) is based on this unit. The members of the unit wear Boina Rojas of the paratroopers with unit badges. As of 2022 it consists of:


title: Paratrooper

text: Airborne forces raised by Australia have included a small number of conventional and special forces units. During the Second World War the Australian Army formed the 1st Parachute Battalion; however, it did not see action. In the post-war period Australia's parachute capability was primarily maintained by special forces units. In the 1970s and 1980s a parachute infantry capability was revived, while a Parachute Battalion Group based on the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) was established in 1983. However, following a reorganisation 3 RAR relinquished the parachute role in 2011, and this capability is now maintained by units of Special Operations Command.


title: Paratrooper

text: Constant "Marin" Duclos was the first French soldier to execute a parachute jump on November 17, 1915. He performed 23 test and exhibition parachute drops without problems to publicise the system and overcome the prejudice aviators had for such life-saving equipment.


title: Paratrooper

text: In 1935, Captain Geille of the French Air Force created the Avignon-Pujaut Paratroopers Schools after he trained in Moscow at the Soviet Airborne Academy. From this, the French military created two combat units called "Groupes d’Infanterie de l’Air".


title: Paratrooper

text: Following the Battle of France, General Charles de Gaulle formed the 1re Compagnie d’Infanterie de l’Air in September 1940 from members of the Free French forces who had escaped to Britain. It was transformed into the Compagnie de Chasseurs Parachutistes in October 1941. By June 1942, these units were fighting in Crete and Cyrenaica alongside the British 1st SAS Regiment. As part of the SAS Brigade, two independent French SAS units were also created in addition to the other French Airborne units. They operated until 1945.


title: Paratrooper

text: In May 1943, the 1er Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes was created from the 601e Groupe d'Infanterie de l'Air in Morocco and the 3e and 4e Bataillons d'Infanterie de l'Air (BIA) in England in the Special Air Service. The 2e and 3e Régiments de Chasseurs Parachutistes followed in July 1944.


title: Paratrooper

text: During the Invasion of Normandy, French Airborne forces fought in Brittany, (Operation Dingson, Operation Samwest). The first Allied soldier to land in France was Free French SAS Captain Pierre Marienne who jumped into Brittany (Plumelec, Morbihan) on June 5 with 17 Free French paratroopers. The first Allied soldier killed in the liberation of France was Free French SAS Corporal Emile Bouétard of the 4e Bataillon d’Infanterie de l’Air, also in Brittany in Plumelec: June 6, 0 h 40. Captain Pierre Marienne was killed on July 12 in Plumelec. French SAS paratroopers also fought in the Loire Valley in September 1944, in Belgium on January, and in Netherlands in April 1945. The 1er Régiment Parachutiste de Choc carried out operations in Provence.


title: Paratrooper

text: After World War II, the post-war French military of the Fourth Republic created several new airborne units. Among them were the Bataillon de Parachutistes Coloniaux (BPC) based in Vannes-Meucon, the Metropolitan Paratroopers, and the Colonial Paratroopers and Bataillons Étrangers de Parachutistes (French Foreign Legion), which coexisted until 1954. During the First Indochina War, a Bataillon Parachutiste Viet Nam was created (BPVN) in southeast Asia. In total, 150 different airborne operations took place in Indochina between 1945 and 1954. These included five major combat missions against the Viet Minh strongholds and areas of concentration.


title: Paratrooper

text: When the French left Vietnam in 1954, all airborne battalions were upgraded to regiments over the next two years. Only the French Air Force's Commandos de l'Air (Air Force) were excluded. In 1956, the 2e Régiment de Parachutiste Coloniaux took part in the Suez Crisis.


title: Paratrooper

text: Next, the French Army regrouped all its Army Airborne regiments into two parachute divisions in 1956. The 10th parachute division ("10e Division Parachutiste", 10e DP) came under the command of General Jacques Massu and General Henri Sauvagnac took over the 25th Parachute Division ("25e Division Parachutiste", 25e DP). Again the Commandos de l'Air were kept under command of the Air Force.


title: Paratrooper

text: By the late 1950s, in Algeria, the FLN had launched its War of Independence. French paratroopers were used as counter insurgency units by the French Army. This was the first time in airborne operations troops used helicopters for Air Assault and Fire Support.


title: Paratrooper

text: But in the aftermath of the Algiers putsch, the 10e and 25e Parachute divisions were disbanded and their regiments merged into the Light Intervention Division ("Division Légère d'Intervention"). This division became the 11th Parachute Division ("11e Division Parachutiste", 11e DP) in 1971.


title: Paratrooper

text: In the aftermath of the Cold War, the French Army reorganised and the 11e DP become the 11th Parachute Brigade in 1999.


title: Paratrooper

text: Nazi Germany´s "Luftwaffe" "Fallschirmjäger" units made the first airborne invasion when invading Denmark on April 9, 1940, as part of Operation Weserübung. In the early morning hours they attacked and took control of the Masnedø fort and Aalborg Airport. The Masnedø fort was positioned such as it guarded the Storstrøm Bridge between the islands of Falster and Masnedø – on the main road from the south to Copenhagen. Aalborg Airport played a key role acting as a refueling station for the Luftwaffe in the further invasion into Norway. In the same assault the bridges around Aalborg were taken. Fallschirmjäger were also used in the Low Countries against the Netherlands, although their use against The Hague was unsuccessful. Their most famous drop was the 1941 Battle of Crete, though they suffered large casualties.


title: Paratrooper

text: Hence later in the war, the 7th Air Division's "Fallschirmjäger" assets were re-organised and used as the core of a new series of elite Luftwaffe Infantry divisions, numbered in a series beginning with the 1st "Fallschirmjäger" Division. These formations were organised and equipped as motorised infantry divisions, and often played a "fire brigade" role on the western front. Their constituents were often encountered on the battlefield as ad hoc battle groups ("Kampfgruppen") detached from a division or organised from miscellaneous available assets. In accord with standard German practice, these were called by their commander's name, such as "Group Erdmann" in France and the "Ramcke" Parachute Brigade in North Africa.


title: Paratrooper

text: After mid-1944, "Fallschirmjäger" were no longer trained as paratroops owing to the realities of the strategic situation, but retained the "Fallschirmjäger" honorific. Near the end of the war, the series of new "Fallschirmjäger" divisions extended to over a dozen, with a concomitant reduction in quality in the higher-numbered units of the series. Among these divisions was the 9th "Fallschirmjäger" Division, which was the final parachute division to be raised by Germany during World War II. The Russian army destroyed the division during the Battle of Berlin in April 1945. The "Fallschirmjäger" were issued specialist weapons such as the FG 42 and specially designed helmets.


title: Paratrooper

text: In the modern German "Bundeswehr", the "Fallschirmjägertruppe" continue to form the core of special operations units. The division has two brigade equivalents and several independent companies and battalions. All told, about 10,000 troops served in that division in 2010, most of them support or logistics personnel. The Fallschirmjägertruppe currently uses the Wiesel Armoured Weapons Carrier (AWC), a light air-transportable armoured fighting vehicle, more specifically a lightly armoured weapons carrier. It is quite similar to historical scouting tankettes in size, form and function, and is the only true modern tankette in use in Western Europe.


title: Paratrooper

text: The Parachute Regiment is the Special Forces/airborne regiment of the Indian Army. Regiment was formed in 1952


title: Paratrooper

text: The regiment has a total of 14 regular, one Rashtriya Rifles and two Territorial Army (India) battalions; of the regular bns, five are Airborne battalions, while nine are Special Forces battalions. Formerly designated "Commando" units, they are now designated Special Forces:


title: Paratrooper

text: Three of the Special Forces battalions were originally trained for use in certain environments; 1st Bn [strategic reserve], 9th Bn [mountain] and 10th Bn [desert]. Subsequently, the 21st Bn was raised for jungle warfare. Currently, all Special Forces battalions are cross trained for all environments.


title: Paratrooper

text: The 8th Battalion became 16th Battalion, Mahar Regiment in 1976 before reconverting to the 12th Battalion, Mechanised Infantry Regiment. A sizable part of the battalion was retained in the airborne role for some time, forming the armoured element of the 50th (Independent) Parachute Brigade and equipped with their BMP-2 Infantry Combat Vehicles. But due to administrative and logistic reasons, it was discontinued and their role being taken over by the para battalions themselves, with a platoon strength of each battalion being trained and equipped for the mechanized role within the brigade.


title: Paratrooper

text: Three Airborne units in rotation form part of the Parachute Brigade alternatively serving their field tenures in counter-insurgency/high altitude areas. One of the two field regiments (9 Para Fd Regt and 17 Para Fd Regt) also forms part of the brigade while the other serves out its field tenure on rotation.


title: Paratrooper

text: The two Territorial Army battalions, 106th (Bangalore) and 116th (Deolali) form the airborne element of the Terriers (as the Territorial Army is popularly known) and are presently involved in COIN operations.


title: Paratrooper

text: 31st Battalion (Commando), Rashtriya Rifles, is also affiliated to the Parachute Regiment, for special operations conducted by the counter-insurgency force.


title: Paratrooper

text: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) paratroopers have a history of carrying out special forces-style missions dating back to the 1950s. Paratrooper Brigade soldiers wear maroon berets with the infantry pin and reddish-brown boots. Distinct from all other soldiers of the IDF, Paratroopers wear a tunic and belt over the shirt. The IDF has one active paratrooper brigade and four reserve brigades consisting of personnel who served their mandatory time in the 35th brigade, and who are mostly relatively recently discharged, aside from officers. The IDF paratrooper brigades include:


title: Paratrooper

text: The first units of Italian parachutists were trained and formed shortly before the Second World War in Castel Benito, near Tripoli (Libya), where the first Military school of Parachuting was located. They were two native battalions of the and two battalions of Italian troops, later joined by the Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion.


title: Paratrooper

text: Moved back to Italy in 1941, the staff of the Castel Benito school was expanded into the Paratroopers School at Tarquinia and became a massive training program. In 1941, a Parachutist division was completed and was designated the 185th Parachute Division Folgore. It was trained for the assault on Malta but was used instead in ground combat operations in the North African Campaign, where it fought with great distinction during the Second battle of El Alamein, effectively stalling the southern part of the Commonwealth attack until the general retreat of the Axis forces, when it was destroyed.


title: Paratrooper

text: Another mayor paratroopers division was formed during 1942 (the 184rd Parachute Division "Nembo") and a third had started forming in 1943 (the 184rd Parachute Division "Ciclone"). After the September 8th 1943 Armistice, elements of the "Nembo" division joined the Allies against the germans as part of the and later as part of the ("Gruppo di Combattimento "Folgore"") of the Italian Co-belligerent Army. Other scattered elements joined the Italian Social Republic, where they formed several Parachute units that continued to operate alongside the Germans against the Allies, fighting with distinction during the Battle of Anzio.


title: Paratrooper

text: After WW2, the Italian Army conscripted the Paratroopers Brigade Folgore, currently the largest unit of paratroopers of the Italian Army. The Brigade operates as Light Infantry with airborne drop and air transport capability with secondary light mechanized capabilities, as part of the , the on-call divisional HQ controlling the rapid reaction components of the Italian Army.


title: Paratrooper

text: In 1982 the Italian Brigade Folgore landed in Beirut with the Multinational Force in Lebanon. In 1991, a Parachutist Tactical group was deployed to Kurdistan. Its mission was to provide humanitarian aid. From July 1992, the Brigade supplied personnel to the "Vespri Siciliani" and later "Strade Sicure" internal security operations. The Folgore participated in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia from 3 December 1992 to September 1993. Parts of the Brigade have been employed many times in the Balkans (IFOR/SFOR in Bosnia and KFOR in Kosovo), with MNF in Albania and INTERFET in East Timor. The Folgore participated from August 2005 to September 2005 in Operation Babylon in Iraq and to December 2014 in Afghanistan. In August 2007, the Folgore took part in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, under aegis of the United Nations (Resolution 1701), as a result of the war between Israel and Hezbollah of summer 2006. The Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" is still mainly deployed abroad in international stabilization and peacekeeping operation, on rotation with the other elite units of the Italian Army.


title: Paratrooper

text: Other paratroopers units operate as part of the Army Special Forces Command and of the other Special Forces components provided by the Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri.


title: Paratrooper

text: was a Japanese special forces/airborne unit during World War II. The unit was a division-level force, and was part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF).


title: Paratrooper

text: Notably, Japanese troopers fought in the Battle of Palembang and in the takeover of Celebes in the Dutch East Indies.


title: Paratrooper

text: During the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, the Peruvian army had also established its own paratrooper unit and used it to great effect by seizing the Ecuadorian port city of Puerto Bolívar, on July 27, 1941, marking the first time in the Americas that airborne troops were used in combat.


title: Paratrooper

text: In 1965, a paratrooper unit known as the Sinchis was established under the Civil Guard as a counterinsurgency and anti-narcotics force. With the dissolution of the Civil Guard in 1991, the unit became part of the National Police of Peru.


title: Paratrooper

text: The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute brigade under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski, created in the Second World War Scotland in September 1941, with the exclusive mission to drop into occupied Poland in order to help liberate the country. The British government, however, pressured the Poles into allowing the unit to be used in the Western theatre of war. Operation Market Garden eventually saw the unit sent into action in support of the British 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. The Poles were initially landed by glider from 18 September, whilst, due to bad weather over England, the parachute section of the Brigade was held up, and jumped on 21 September at Driel on the South bank of the Rhine. The Poles suffered significant casualties during the next few days of fighting, but still were able, by their presence, to cause around 2,500 German troops to be diverted to deal with them for fear of them supporting the remnants of 1st Airborne trapped over the lower Rhine in Oosterbeek.


title: Paratrooper

text: The Brigade was originally trained close to RAF Ringway and later in Upper Largo in Scotland. It was finally based in Lincolnshire, close to RAF Spitalgate (Grantham) where it continued training until its eventual departure for Europe after D-Day.