History

Roger Williams

Jovan Stosic August 7, 2020

Roger Williams (c. 21 December 1603 – between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was a Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island. He was a staunch advocate for religious freedom, separation of church and state, and fair dealings with Native Americans, and he was one of the first abolitionists.

Williams was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for spreading “new and dangerous ideas”, and he established the Providence Plantations in 1636 as a refuge offering what he called “liberty of conscience“. In 1638, he founded the First Baptist Church in America, also known as the First Baptist Church of Providence. He studied the Native American languages and wrote the first book on the Narragansett language, and he organized the first attempt to prohibit slavery in any of England’s North American colonies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Williams

Roger Williams was last modified: August 7th, 2020 by Jovan Stosic

Alfred the Great

Jovan Stosic August 6, 2020

Alfred the Great (848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 886 and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 to 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex. His father died when he was young, and three of Alfred’s brothers, Æthelbald, Æthelberht and Æthelred, reigned in turn before him.

After ascending the throne, Alfred spent several years fighting Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878 and made an agreement with the Vikings, creating what was known as the Danelaw in the North of England. Alfred also oversaw the conversion of Viking leader Guthrum to Christianity. He defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, becoming the dominant ruler in England. Details of his life are described in a work by 9th-century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser.

Alfred had a reputation as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be conducted in Anglo-Saxon rather than Latin and improving the legal system and military structure and his people’s quality of life. He was given the epithet “the Great” during and after the Reformation in the sixteenth century, and together with Danish Cnut the Great, is the only king of England to be given such a name

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great

Alfred the Great was last modified: August 7th, 2020 by Jovan Stosic

Ashoka

Jovan Stosic August 3, 2020

Ashoka (Brāhmi: 𑀅𑀲𑁄𑀓, Asoka, IAST: Aśoka, English: /əˈʃoʊkə/), also known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE. The grandson of the founder of the Maurya Dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka promoted the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia. Considered by many to be one of India’s greatest emperors, Ashoka expanded Chandragupta’s empire to reign over a realm stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. It covered the entire Indian subcontinent except for parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. The empire’s capital was Pataliputra (in Magadha, present-day Patna), with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain.

Ashoka waged a destructive war against the state of Kalinga (modern Odisha), which he conquered in about 260 BCE. He converted to Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he had waged out of a desire for conquest and which reportedly directly resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations. He is remembered for the Ashoka pillars and edicts, for sending Buddhist monks to Sri Lanka and Central Asia, and for establishing monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha.

Beyond the Edicts of Ashoka, biographical information about him relies on legends written centuries later, such as the 2nd-century CE Ashokavadana (“Narrative of Ashoka“, a part of the Divyavadana), and in the Sri Lankan text Mahavamsa (“Great Chronicle“). The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka. His Sanskrit name “Aśoka” means “painless, without sorrow” (the a privativum and śoka, “pain, distress”). In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānaṃpiya or “the Beloved of the Gods”), and Priyadarśin or Priyadarshi (Pali Piyadasī or “He who regards everyone with affection”). His fondness for his name’s connection to the Saraca asoca tree, or “Ashoka tree”, is also referenced in the Ashokavadana.

In The Outline of History (1920), H.G. Wells wrote, “Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Ashoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a star.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka

Ashoka was last modified: August 3rd, 2020 by Jovan Stosic

Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky

Jovan Stosic May 16, 2020

Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky (German: Karl Alois Johann-Nepomuk Vinzenz Leonhard, Fürst Lichnowsky, also known as Carl Alois, Fürst von Lichnowsky-Woschütz; 21 June 1761 – 15 April 1814) was the second Prince Lichnowsky and a chamberlain at the Imperial Austrian court. He is remembered for his patronage of music and his relationships with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Alois,_Prince_Lichnowsky

Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky was last modified: May 16th, 2020 by Jovan Stosic