Pagoda
A pagoda is any kind of tower with multiple eaves. They are common in eastern and southeastern Asia. Most pagodas are built for religious purposes. They are usually Buddhist. Some are used as Taoist temples. The modern design for pagodas comes from the stupas of ancient Nepal. These were first built during the 3rd century BC. This kind of architecture has spread across Asia, taking on many differences as details specific to different regions are made a part of the overall design. Stupas were used to house Buddhist relics. Later, the architecture of Chinese towers and Chinese pavilions blended into pagoda architecture. This eventually spread to Southeast Asia. The pagoda's original purpose was to house relics and sacred writings.
Church of the Nativity
The Church of the Nativity is a church in Bethlehem. It is one of the oldest churches in the world. It is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus. It is considered very sacred to Christians and Muslims.
The main basilica is maintained by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. Underneath the building is a cave or grotto. It is where Jesus is said to have been born. On Christmas Eve, crowds gather to sing Christmas carols outside the church in an area called Manger Square. The crowds also go to celebrate midnight mass at the Church of Saint Catherine, a Roman Catholic church next door to the basilica. It is performed by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
The basilica has been reported to be not very well preserved. The Palestinian government started restoring the buildings in 2010. It was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in June 2012. It is the first World Heritage Site listed under Palestine. It was listed as being in danger.
Krater
A krater was a large ceramic vase. Kraters were used to mix wine and water in Ancient Greece. Once filled, the krater was heavy and not easily moved. Another vessel was dipped into the mix. This vessel was then used to fill other vessels such as wine cups. The krater was the centerpiece of a party in Ancient Greece. A special person was chosen by party guests to take care of the krater.
John Dryden
John Dryden (9 August 1631 – 1 May 1700) was an English poet laureate and playwright.
He was the oldest of fourteen children born to Erasmus Dryden and wife Mary Pickering. As a boy Dryden lived in the nearby village of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire. In 1644 he was sent to Westminster School. In the late twentieth century a house at Westminster was founded in his name.
In 1650 Dryden went up to Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduating, he went to London. Dryden got work with the Secretary of State, John Thurloe.
On 1 December 1663 Dryden married the royalist sister of Sir Robert Howard—Lady Elizabeth. They had three sons.
His first play, "The Wild Gallant" was in 1663. It was not successful. But from 1668 on he was contracted to make three plays a year for the King's Company.
In 1693 Dryden famously said about English language that "We have yet no prosody, not so much tolerable dictionary, or a grammar, so that our language is in a manner barbarous." Following the century's ill formed ideas like latinising English, Dryden considered English as inferior and before expressing anything English in his works he transcribed them first into Latin. He promoted the need of a regulatory body in English like the French Academy, this idea has been carried on by others after his death like by Daniel Fefoe, John Adams and other organized bodies into the 21st century. This arresting in change was deplored in each ages.
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was the queen of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu from 1279 until her death in 1290.
Edward and Eleanor married at the monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos on 1 November 1254. Several of her relatives came to England soon after her marriage. Henry III of England spent much money on her relatives. This made the people not like her, even though she could not stop it.
In the 1260s, the Second Barons' War started between Henry III and his barons. This divided the kingdom. Eleanor supported Edward. Edward was captured at Lewes and imprisoned. Eleanor was honourably kept at Westminster Palace.
In 1270 Edward and Eleanor left to join his uncle Louis IX of France on the Eighth Crusade. Louis died at Carthage. They spent the winter in Sicily. Then the couple went on to Acre in Palestine.
They left Palestine in September 1272. In Sicily that December they learned of Henry III's death. Edward and Eleanor returned to England and were crowned together on 19 August 1274.
Eleanor of Castile was born to the Castilian King, Ferdinand III and his wife, Queen Joan of Ponthieu in the early 1240s. When her father died, her step brother, Alfonso X, ascended to the throne where he and King Henry III arranged her marriage. In Spain, at age 10-12 she was married to King Henry’s son, Edward, who was only 15 at the time in 1254. She went with her husband, Lord Edward of England, who was leading an important crusade in 1270. As a gift to celebrate their wedding, her step brother gave Edward the region of Gascony. Edward also gained the lands of Montreuil and Ponthieu through Eleanor. When Eleanor first moved to England, King Henry III “Ordered that her apartments be furnished "in Castilian fashion" to make her feel more comfortable.” In 1264 she was moved to France for her safety when war broke out and did not return until about a year later. In 1270 she went on the 8th crusade with Edward to the Holy Land and returned in August 19, 1274 to be crowned. Since Eleanor was foreign, many of her subjects did not like her. On November 28, 1290, Eleanor died of a fever, leaving Edward to write, "I loved her dearly during her lifetime . . . . I shall not cease to love her now that she is dead."
Philippa of Hainault
Philippa of Hainault (24 June 1313 15 August 1369) was the queen of Edward III of England.
Philippa was the daughter of William I, Count of Hainaut, nicknamed "the Good", and Joan of Valois, the granddaughter of Philip III of France.
King Edward II wanted an alliance with Flanders to benefit England. He sent Bishop Stapledon to choose a good wife for Prince Edward. He chose Philippa who was about nine years old at that time. Four years later Philippa was betrothed to Prince Edward.
Philippa married Edward at York Minster, on 24 January 1328. This was eleven months after he was made King. The real rulers of the kingdom were his mother, Queen Dowager Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. They jointly acted as his regents. The couple lived at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire. Philippa was crowned queen on 4 March 1330 at Westminster Abbey. She was almost six months pregnant. She gave birth to her first son, Edward, the following June just nine days before her seventeenth birthday.
In October 1330, King Edward began to rule. He ordered the arrest of his mother and Mortimer. Mortimer was killed for treason. Queen Dowager Isabella was sent to Castle Rising in Norfolk, where she spent the rest of her life.
Philippa went with Edward on his trips to Scotland, and the European continent in his early campaigns of the Hundred Years' War. She acted as regent in England on several times when her husband was away from his kingdom.
On 15 August 1369, Philippa died of an illness similar to dropsy in Windsor Castle at the age of fifty-six. By all accounts, her forty-year marriage to Edward had been happy. Even though he had an affair with her lady-in-waiting, Alice Perrers, during the later years.
The Queen's College, Oxford is named after Philippa. It was founded in 1341 by one of her chaplains, Robert de Eglesfield, in her honour.
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394) was the queen of Richard II of England. She was the oldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Elizabeth of Pomerania.