A town crier is a person who is employed by a town council to make public announcements in the streets. The crier can also be used in court or official announcements. Criers often dress elaborately, a tradition known from the 18th century, in a red and gold robe, white breeches, black boots and a tricorne hat.
They carry a handbell to make a loud noise and they shout the words "Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!" before making their announcements. The word "Oyez" means "hear ye," which is a call for silence and attention. "Oyez" is from an Anglo-Norman word for "listen". Some town criers announcements are recorded in books called a Proclamation Book The proclamations book in Chester from the early 19th century records the town criers call as "O Yes, O Yes!"
In Medieval England, town criers were the most important way of spreading news with the people of a town. Many could not read newspapers. Royal proclamations, local bylaws, market days, advertisements and even selling loaves of sugar were all proclaimed by a bellman or town crier for centuries. During Christmas 1798, the Chester Canal Company sold some sugar that was damaged in their packet boat and this was advertised by the town crier.
Chester's first 'belman' was in 1540. His was paid one (old) penny for 'going for anything that is lost' and 4 old pennies for leading a funeral procession. In 1681, a fire safety law that all houses should have tiled roofs, not thatched, was to 'be published throughout the city by the day bellman. In 1553, the crier was paid 13 old pennies for 'ridunge the banes' (reading the banns or adverts) for the Chester Mystery Plays. In 1598, bellman Richard Woodcock must have been dressed in a similar way to the London bellman, for he had 'a tymber mast typt at both endes and embellished in the middest with silver' (a wooden stick with silver decorations).
In 1620, there was a fight at the crossroads between the butchers and the bakers where the 'Cryer brake his Mace in peeces Amonge them'(broke his silver stick among them). In 1607, one public notice read by George Tunnall, the bellman, that putting rubbish in the river was illegal.
In 1656 the parish register of St Mary le Crypt in Gloucester records banns of marriage as being "published by the Bellman".
In 1715, a local man recorded that the 'Belman at the Cross ... Reads publicly a proclamation in the Mayor's name, commanding all persons in the City to bee of peaceable and civil behaviour, not to walk around the Streets or Rows at unreasonable hours of night'. In 1743, John Posnitt took over as 'Day and Night Bellman'.
In 1792, Chester had a day-time and night-time bellman, John Yarwood and a crier, William Ratcliffe, but by 1835 there seems to have been only one position. It was not until 1998 that Chester had both a crier and a bellman again.
Town criers were protected by royalty, as they sometimes brought bad news such as tax increases. To this day, any town crier in the British Commonwealth is protected under old English law that they are "not to be hindered or heckled while performing their duties". To injure or harm a town crier was seen as an act of treason against the ruling monarchy. The term "Posting A Notice" comes from the act of the town crier, who having read his message to the townspeople, would attach it to the door post of the local inn.
The same as England, town criers were the most important way to deliver news to the people of the town because many people could not read newspapers or write. Proclamations, local bylaws, market days, adverts, were all proclaimed by a bellman or crier.
Criers were not always men, many town criers were women. Bells were not the only way to make noise - in Holland, a gong was often used, and in France a drum was used, or a hunting horn.
The best dressed town crier and escort at the last World Championships (date of entry 2008) are Peter and Maureen Taunton from the county town of Stafford, UK. They also hold the title of the best dressed town crier in Britain 2008 Competition held at Alnwick for the Loyal Company of Town Criers. They are also the Best Dressed Crier at the National Town Crier Competition in Hastings 2007.
Peter Moore has been The London Town Crier for more than 30 years. He is Town Crier for The Mayor of London, The City of Westminster, and London Boroughs. He is also Freeman and Liveryman of The City of London.
Alan Myatt holds the world record as the loudest town cryer at 112.8 decibels.
The need for town criers has disappeared and they became part of the local folklore. There are European and World Championship competitions for modern town criers.
Plague of Justinian
The Plague of Justinian was a pandemic in the Byzantine Empire in the years 541–542. It was the first recorded plague pandemic. It is estimated that the Plague of Justinian killed as many as 100 million people across the world, because it returned about every twelve years until 770 when it stopped for about 500 years.
It caused Europe's population to drop by around 50% between 541 and 700. It also may have contributed to the success of the Muslim conquests.
Its social and cultural impact is comparable to that of the Black Death.
The plague may have come from Ethiopia or Egypt, and it was eventually carried north to the large city of Constantinople. Ships carrying grain, which the city imported, had many rats that carried the plague.
At its height, the plague killed 10,000 people in Constantinople everyday. It eventually killed 40% of the city's population. In all, about 25 million people died because of the plague. It is said to have contributed to the fall of the Byzantine Empire, because it killed farmers and caused famine. The empire relied on tax money, and the plague killed many taxpayers.
Zlib License
The zlib License is an open source software license.
The words of the zlib License are:
Plant cutting
Plant cutting, also known as striking/cloning, is a technique for vegetatively (asexually) propagating plants. With this method, a piece of the source plant containing at least one stem cell is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil, potting mix, coir or rock wool. The cutting then grows new roots, stems, or both, and becomes a new plant independent of the parent.
Ferdinand Lassalle
Ferdinand Lassalle (11 April 1825 — 31 August 1864) was a German jurist and socialist politician.
Lassalle was born in Breslau. His father sent him to a business school in Leipzig. Lassalle changed to the University of Breslau. He later studied in Berlin.
He studied Philosophy, Philology (Latin and Ancient Greek) and Law.
Lassalle took part in the revolutions of 1848-49. He was put into prison and later banned from Berlin. He lived in Düsseldorf that time. In 1859, Lassalle returned to Berlin.
Lassalle was a liberal politician in the early 1860s. The liberals had some struggles with Otto von Bismarck. Lassalle thought about the living conditions of the working class. He found that the idea of self-help would not help the working class people. This led him to become a member of the Communist league. There he was in opposition to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Lassalle founded the Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiterverein (General German Workers' Association, ADAV) in 1863. This party later became the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
Lassalle was killed in a duel.
Hans-Dietrich Genscher
Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German politician.
Genscher was born at Reideburg, near Halle. Genscher served in World War II from 1943 to 1945. He joined the Nazi Party at the age of 18. After the war, he studied economics and law in Halle and Leipzig. He joined the East German Liberal Democratic Party (LDPD) in 1946.
In 1952, Genscher fled to West Germany. There he joined the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He passed his second state examination in law in Hamburg in 1954. After that, he became a solicitor in Bremen.