A balk is something that a pitcher does in baseball that is not allowed, or illegal. If a balk happens the umpire will point to the pitcher and yell "balk", and the runners on base get to move up one base. If there are no runners on base, a ball is issued to the batter.
Some ways a balk can happen include;
There are other ways it can happen, but these are the main ones.
Ealdorman
An ealdorman (from Old English "ealdorman", lit. "elder man"; plural: "ealdormen") is a term used for a high-ranking royal official who was in charge of one or more shires. The title dates from the sixth century and was in use up to the time of King Canute. Their position was a combination of administrator, judge and military . Ealdormen were the of the later English earls.
The king appointed an ealdorman to govern one or more shires or territories. The ealdorman was also responsible for leading his local fyrd (part-time army) in battle. But these armies owed their first to their ealdorman. Very often the support of one or more ealdormen could help a royal candidate to become king. In many cases ealdormen succeeded yet kept the same rights. Several had been underkings and were members of the royal family. In early Anglo-Saxon documents ealdormen are also termed ", "", or " in documents of the time.
The term first appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 568. But it was probably used long before then. As early as the seventh century ealdormen were seen as judges. But the development of the shire may have come later. As ealdormanries began to become (passed down from father to son) the families who held them became more and more powerful. Several rose in power second only to the king. They were described in documents by the term "". In the eighth century these occurred in Northumbria, Mercia and Kent. The term "patricius" was roughly the same as the office of mayor of the palace in the Merovingian dynasty of Frankish kings. This could be dangerous for a king to have someone so powerful exercising power in his name. In the eighth and ninth centuries the most dangerous ealdormen were those who claimed royal descent. They could and in some cases did rise up against a king and took the throne themselves. In the very basic royal administrations of the time a king needed to depend on his ealdormen. A king could create ealdormen from his own family. But he could only fill only a portion of the ealdormanries in that way. As the families of ealdormen banded together in ties of mutual support it became more difficult to remove an ealdorman.
The term ealdorman was replaced by the term earl during the eleventh century. In the laws of King Canute both ealdormen and earls are mentioned. But there was no distinction made between them. After the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the title Earl was no longer with "dux" or "princeps". They were written at times as "" (count). King William replaced most Anglo-Saxon earls with his own . He then limited the power of most earls giving them control of counties, castles or other territories. A few were given more power. These were titled Earl palatine.
Centwine of Wessex
Centwine ( 685) was King of Wessex from to 685. He appears to have been one of several underkings of Wessex after the death of Cenwalh. But at some point he united the kingdom of Wessex under his rule.
Centwine was the probable son of Cynegils and grandson of Ceolwulf, King of Wessex. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Centwine became king . Also that he succeeded Aescwine. Bede wrote that after the death of King Cenwalh: "his under-rulers took upon them the kingdom of the people, and dividing it among themselves, held it ten years". Bede's view of Aescwine and Centwine as underkings may represent the views of King Ine. His family ruled Wessex in Bede's time. If the kingdom did fragment following Cenwalh's death, it was reunited during Centwine's reign. An entry under 682 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that "Centwine drove the Britons to the sea". Aldhelm wrote Centwine won three major victories but does not say who he defeated. Centwine is reported to have and became a monk. The date of his death is unknown.
Centwine married Eangyth, niece of Eorcenbert of Kent. Her sister, Eormenburh was married to King Egfrith of Northumbria. Together they had:
Les Misérables
Les Misérables is a novel by Victor Hugo. It was published in 1862. The story is about a former convict named Jean Valjean. He tries to find a meaningful life, but is followed by a police officer. The story has been made into movies several times. It has also been made into a musical. He is trying to run away after being convicted by the police since he stole bread to feed his sister's children.
The work describes French society between the reign of Napoleon and that of Louis Philippe I. One of the main characters, Marius, takes part in the June Rebellion.
Hugo based some of his characters on the lives of real people. That way, Valjean is probably based upon Eugène François Vidocq. He probably used the story of Bienvenu de Miollis to base the Bishop of Digne on. De Mollis was the bishop of Digne from 1805 to 1838. Enjolras, a revolutionary leader is probably based on Louise Michel, a French anarchist.
Les Misérables starts by describing the life of the nice Bishop Myriel who is always helping the poor. Then the book talks about Jean Valjean, a man who was arrested because he stole some bread to feed his sister's children. He is freed from prison after 19 years and he wanders through France until the Bishop takes him in for the night. Valjean tries to steal the Bishop's silverware, but he is caught. The Bishop pretends that he gave Valjean the silverware and tells him to be good.
Jean Valjean changes his name to M. Madeline and becomes a factory owner and the town's mayor. One of his workers is named Fantine. She had a child called Cosette who lives with an evil innkeeper named Thenardier. The other women in the factory get Fantine fired or removed from her job. When Fantine is attacked by a man on the streets, Valjean protects her from the police and takes her to the hospital because she is sick. Fantine tells Valjean about Cosette and asks him to save Cosette. Unfortunately, she is too sick and dies.
A police officer called Javert finds out about Valjean and he chases him and arrests him, but Valjean escapes from jail and goes to find Cosette. When he does, he takes her from the innkeeper Thenardier and runs away to Paris. There, he is chased by Javert and eventually finds a place where Cosette can go to school and he can work safely.
Meanwhile, a young man named Marius has found a new group of friends at the ABC Café. They (the Friends of the ABC) are unhappy because a lot of people are poor. So they want to make the government help the poor people but only one man in the government wants to. His name is Jean Lamarque, and he is very sick. A girl named Eponine, the daughter of Thenardier, falls in love with Marius, but he doesn't love her.
When Cosette is done with school, she and Valjean go to live in a house on Plumet Street (Rue Plumet). There, Marius meets Cosette and they fall in love. Then, Thenardier, who lost his job, tries to rob Valjean, but Eponine saves him and Cosette.
Then, Lamarque dies! The Friends of the ABC are angry and build barricades (or giant walls) out of furniture in the center of Paris. The government is angry and sends Javert to go spy on the Friends.