Context and question: Beside the introduction of the lute to Spain (Andalusia) by the Moors, another important point of transfer of the lute from Arabian to European culture was Sicily, where it was brought either by Byzantine or later by Muslim musicians. There were singer-lutenists at the court in Palermo following the Norman conquest of the island from the Muslims, and the lute is depicted extensively in the ceiling paintings in the Palermo's royal Cappella Palatina, dedicated by the Norman King Roger II of Sicily in 1140. His Hohenstaufen grandson Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194 - 1250) continued integrating Muslims into his court, including Moorish musicians. By the 14th century, lutes had disseminated throughout Italy and, probably because of the cultural influence of the Hohenstaufen kings and emperor, based in Palermo, the lute had also made significant inroads into the German-speaking lands.
What country helped transfer the lute from Arabian to European culture?
Answer: Sicily
Context and question: A major turning point in the development of DC machines took place in 1864, when Antonio Pacinotti described for the first time the ring armature with its symmetrically grouped coils closed upon themselves and connected to the bars of a commutator, the brushes of which delivered practically non-fluctuating current. The first commercially successful DC motors followed the invention by Zenobe Gramme who, in 1871, reinvented Pacinotti's design. In 1873, Gramme showed that his dynamo could be used as a motor, which he demonstrated to great effect at exhibitions in Vienna and Philadelphia by connecting two such DC motors at a distance of up to 2 km away from each other, one as a generator. (See also 1873 : l'experience decisive [Decisive Workaround] .)
What made Pacinotti's motor an important advancement?
Answer: non-fluctuating current
Context and question: The west Balkan coast was inhabited by various Illyrian tribes and kingdoms such as the kingdom of the Dalmatae and of the Ardiaei, who often engaged in piracy under Queen Teuta (reigned 231 BC to 227 BCE). Further inland was the Illyrian Paeonian Kingdom and the tribe of the Agrianes which covers most of the modern republic of Macedonia. Illyrians on the coast of the Adriatic were under the effects and influence of Hellenisation and some tribes adopted Greek, becoming bilingual due to their proximity to the Greek colonies in Illyria. Illyrians imported weapons and armor from the Ancient Greeks (such as the Illyrian type helmet, originally a Greek type) and also adopted the ornamentation of Ancient Macedon on their shields and their war belts (a single one has been found, dated 3rd century BC at modern Selce e Poshtme part of Macedon at the time under Philip V of Macedon).
What tribes inhabited the Balkan Coast?
Answer:
Illyrian