Siege of Strasbourg
The Siege of Strasbourg took place during the Franco-Prussian War, resulted in the French surrender of the fortress on 28 September 1870. After the German victory at Wörth, troops from the Grand Duchy of Baden under Prussian General August von Werder were detached to capture Strasbourg with the help of two Prussian Landwehr divisions, guarding the North Sea coast; this 40,000-strong siege corps reached the fortress on 14 August and began to bombard it. The defenses were obsolete and 7,000 of the 23,000-strong French garrison were National Guard militiamen. Desiring a quick surrender, the Germans began a terror bombardment to destroy the morale of the civilian population on 23 August. Explosive and incendiary shells were rained down on the city for four days and entire quarters were reduced to ash. Panic developed among the civilians but there was no capitulation. A shell shortage forced Werder to lower the intensity of the German fire on 26 August and switch to formal siege operations; the Germans dug their way closer to the fortress through trench parallels and destroyed specific sections of the defenses with concentrated bombardments.
The siege progressed French sortie attempts were defeated and by 17 September the enceinte wall had been breached. At the same time, the defenders' morale was lowered by news of the annihilation of the Army of Châlons at Sedan and the encirclement of the Army of the Rhine in Metz. On 19 September the Germans captured their first outwork and began a devastating close-range bombardment of the bastions. With the city defenseless and a German assault imminent, the French commander Lieutenant-General Uhrich surrendered the fortress, 17,562 troops, 1,277 artillery pieces, 140,000 rifles, including 12,000 Chassepots, 50 locomotives and considerable stores of supplies into German hands on 28 September; the French National Guards were allowed to disperse. The Germans lost 936 troops; the besiegers expended 202,099 shells, with a weight of about 4,000 tons. Some 861 French soldiers died from all causes by the end of the siege and thousands were wounded. A total of 341 civilians were killed by a further 600 -- 2,000 wounded.
An estimated 448 houses were destroyed and 10,000 inhabitants were rendered homeless. The German siege operation was successful in clearing up railway lines to German forces in the French interior and freed up several divisions and a corps for operations along the Seine and in the siege of Paris; the deliberate German targeting of civilian morale presaged the total wars of the 20th century. After the Battle of Wörth, Crown Prince Frederick detached General August von Werder to move south against the fortress of Strasbourg; the city commanded a bridgehead across the Rhine. Werder's force was made up of 40,000 troops from Prussia, Württemberg and Baden, which lay just across the Rhine from Strasbourg. Werder's force included the Landwehr Guard Division, the 1st Reserve Division, with one cavalry brigade, 46 battalions, 24 squadrons, 18 field batteries, a separate siege train of 200 field guns and 88 mortars, 6,000-foot artillerymen and ten companies of sappers and miners; the artillery parks at Vendenheim and Kork had a total of 366 guns and mortars, with 320,404 shells, case shot and shrapnel provided.
At the time, Strasbourg was considered to be one of the strongest fortresses in France. Marshal Patrice de MacMahon evacuated Alsace after Wörth and left only three battalions of regulars to hold Strasbourg. Stragglers from Wörth, various other remnant forces, 130 marine infantrymen and elements of the Garde Mobile and National Guard militia improved the garrison's strength to 23,000; the fortress had at least 1,277 guns but no military engineers. The French commandant was the 68-year-old Lieutenant-General Jean Jacques Alexis Uhrich. On 11 August, Baden's force put Strasbourg under observation, they occupied the nearby town of Schiltigheim, fortified it, captured the Strasbourg suburb of Königshofen. Werder understood the value of capturing the city, ruled out a lengthy siege of starvation, he instead decided on a quicker action, bombarding the fortifications and the civilian population into submission. The first shells fell on the city on 14 August. On 23 August Werder's siege guns opened fire on the city and caused considerable damage to the city and many of its historical landmarks.
The Bishop of Strasbourg went to Werder to beg for a ceasefire, the civilian population suggested paying 100,000 francs to Werder each day he did not bomb the city. Uhrich refused to relent, by 26 August Werder realized he could not keep up such a bombardment with the amount of ammunition he had. On 24 August, the Museum of Fine Arts was destroyed by fire, as was the Municipal Library housed in the Gothic former Dominican Church, with its unique collection of medieval manuscripts, rare Renaissance books and ancient Roman artifacts. On 26 August, Werder decided to go ahead with formal siege operations against the fortress. On 27 August, he sent a report to royal headquarters on his intention to open the first parallel on the night of 29–30 August; the Germans had carried out preparations for the formal siege as the bombardment proceeded. These included entrenching tool depots at Bischheim and Suffelweyersheim and the platforms, artillery parks and materiel of the siege artillery at Kork, Neumühl and Vendenheim.
By 24 August, the infantry had trained in the building of trenches by engineer officers. To reconnoiter the fortress more and cover the main approach, the German lines of outposts moved forward on 27 August after dark between Königshoffen and the Aar to within 300 meters of the glacis. There was no French resistance. On the morning of 28 August, the lines of outposts were withdrawn back to their
An academic library is a library, attached to a higher education institution which serves two complementary purposes to support the school's curriculum, to support the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown. An academic and research portal maintained by UNESCO links to 3,785 libraries. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an estimated 3,700 academic libraries in the United States; the support of teaching and learning requires material for student papers. In the past, the material for class readings, intended to supplement lectures as prescribed by the instructor, has been called reserves. In the period before electronic resources became available, the reserves were supplied as actual books or as photocopies of appropriate journal articles. Academic libraries must determine a focus for collection development since comprehensive collections are not feasible. Librarians do this by identifying the needs of the faculty and student body, as well as the mission and academic programs of the college or university.
When there are particular areas of specialization in academic libraries, these are referred to as niche collections. These collections are the basis of a special collection department and may include original papers and artifacts written or created by a single author or about a specific subject. There is a great deal of variation among academic libraries based on their size, resources and services; the Harvard University Library is considered to be the largest strict academic library in the world, although the Danish Royal Library—a combined national and academic library—has a larger collection. Another notable example is the University of the South Pacific which has academic libraries distributed throughout its twelve member countries; the University of California operates the largest academic library system in the world, it manages more than 34 million items in 100 libraries on ten campuses. The first colleges in the United States were intended to train members of the clergy; the libraries associated with these institutions consisted of donated books on the subjects of theology and the classics.
In 1766, Yale had 4,000 volumes, second only to Harvard. Access to these libraries was restricted to faculty members and a few students: the only staff was a part-time faculty member or the president of the college; the priority of the library was to protect the books. In 1849, Yale was open 30 hours a week, the University of Virginia was open nine hours a week, Columbia University four, Bowdoin College only three. Students instead created literary societies and assessed entrance fees in order to build a small collection of usable volumes in excess of what the university library held. Around the turn of the century, this approach began to change; the American Library Association was formed in 1876, with members including Melvil Dewey and Charles Ammi Cutter. Libraries re-prioritized in favor of improving access to materials, found funding increasing as a result of increased demand for said materials. Academic libraries today vary in regard to the extent to which they accommodate those who are not affiliated with their parent universities.
Some offer borrowing privileges to members of the public on payment of an annual fee. The privileges so obtained do not extend to such services as computer usage, other than to search the catalog, or Internet access. Alumni and students of cooperating local universities may be given discounts or other consideration when arranging for borrowing privileges. On the other hand, access to the libraries of some universities is restricted to students and staff. In this case, they may make it possible for others to borrow materials through inter-library loan programs. Libraries of land-grant universities are more accessible to the public. In some cases, they are official government document repositories and so are required to be open to the public. Still, members of the public are charged fees for borrowing privileges, are not allowed to access everything they would be able to as students. Academic libraries in Canada are a recent development in relation to other countries; the first academic library in Canada was opened in 1789 in Windsor, Nova Scotia.
Academic libraries were small during the 19th century and up until the 1950s, when Canadian academic libraries began to grow as a result of greater importance being placed on education and research. The growth of libraries throughout the 1960s was a direct result of many overwhelming factors including inflated student enrollments, increased graduate programs, higher budget allowance, general advocacy of the importance of these libraries; as a result of this growth and the Ontario New Universities Library Project that occurred during the early 1960s, 5 new universities were established in Ontario that all included catalogued collections. The establishment of libraries was widespread throughout Canada and was furthered by grants provided by the Canada Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, which sought to enhance library collections. Since many academic libraries were constructed after World War Two, a majority of the Canadian academic libraries that were built before 1940 that have not been updated to modern lighting, air conditioning, etc. are either no longer in use or are on the verge of decline.
The total number of college and university libraries increased from 31 in 1959-1960 to 105 in 1969-1970. Following the growth of academic libraries in Canada during the 1960s, there was a br
The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant religious orders within the Catholic Church, founded in 1209 by Saint Francis of Assisi. These orders include the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis, they adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of the founder and of his main associates and followers, such as Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, Elizabeth of Hungary, among many others. Francis began preaching around 1207 and traveled to Rome to seek approval from Pope Innocent III in 1209 to form a new religious order; the original Rule of Saint Francis approved by the Pope disallowed ownership of property, requiring members of the order to beg for food while preaching. The austerity was meant to emulate the ministry of Jesus Christ. Franciscans preached in the streets, while boarding in church properties. Saint Clare, under Francis's guidance, founded the Poor Clares in 1212, which remains a Second Order of the Franciscans; the extreme poverty required of members was relaxed in the final revision of the Rule in 1223.
The degree of observance required of members remained a major source of conflict within the order, resulting in numerous secessions. The Order of Friars Minor known as the "Observant" branch, is one of the three Franciscan First Orders within the Catholic Church, the others being the "Conventuals" and "Capuchins"; the Order of Friars Minor, in its current form, is the result of an amalgamation of several smaller orders completed in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII. The latter two, the Capuchin and Conventual, remain distinct religious institutes within the Catholic Church, observing the Rule of Saint Francis with different emphases. Conventual Franciscans are sometimes referred to as greyfriars because of their habit. In Poland and Lithuania they are known as Bernardines, after Bernardino of Siena, although the term elsewhere refers to Cistercians instead; the name of the original order, Ordo Fratrum Minorum stems from Francis of Assisi's rejection of extravagance. Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant, but gave up his wealth to pursue his faith more fully.
He had cut all ties that remained with his family, pursued a life living in solidarity with his fellow brothers in Christ. Francis adopted the simple tunic worn by peasants as the religious habit for his order, had others who wished to join him do the same; those who joined him became the original Order of Friars Minor. The modern organization of the Friars Minor comprises three separate families or groups, each considered a religious order in its own right under its own minister General and particular type of governance, they all live according to a body of regulations known as the Rule of St Francis. First OrderThe First Order or the Order of Friars Minor are called the Franciscans; this order is a mendicant religious order of men, some of whom trace their origin to Francis of Assisi. Their official Latin name is the Ordo Fratrum Minorum. St. Francis thus referred to his followers as "Fraticelli", meaning "Little Brothers". Franciscan brothers are informally called the Minorites; the modern organization of the Friars Minor comprises three separate families or groups, each considered a religious order in its own right under its own minister General and particular type of governance.
They all live according to a body of regulations known as the Rule of St Francis. These are The Order of Friars Minor known as the Observants, are most simply called Franciscan friars, official name: Friars Minor; the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin or Capuchins, official name: Friars Minor Capuchin. The Conventual Franciscans or Minorites, official name: Friars Minor Conventual". Second OrderThe Second Order, most called Poor Clares in English-speaking countries, consists of religious sisters; the order is called the Order of St. Clare, but in the thirteenth century, prior to 1263, this order was referred to as "The Poor Ladies", "The Poor Enclosed Nuns", "The Order of San Damiano". Third OrderThe Franciscan third order, known as the Third Order of Saint Francis, has many men and women members, separated into two main branches: The Secular Franciscan Order, OFS known as the Brothers and Sisters of Penance or Third Order of Penance, try to live the ideals of the movement in their daily lives outside of religious institutes.
The members of the Third Order Regular live in religious communities under the traditional religious vows. They grew out of the Secular Franciscan Order; the 2013 Annuario Pontificio gave the following figures for the membership of the principal male Franciscan orders:. Order of Friars Minor: 2,212 communities. A sermon Francis heard in 1209 on Mt 10:9 made such an impression on him that he decided to devote himself wholly to a life of apostolic poverty. Clad in a rough garment, and, after the Evangelical precept, without staff or scrip, he began to preach repentance, he was soon joined by a prominent fellow townsman, Bernard of Quintavalle, who contributed all that he had to the work, by other companions, who are said to have reached the number of eleven within a yea
Système universitaire de documentation
The système universitaire de documentation or SUDOC is a system used by the libraries of French universities and higher education establishments to identify and manage the documents in their possession. The catalog, which contains more than 10 million references, allows students and researcher to search for bibliographical and location information in over 3,400 documentation centers, it is maintained by the Bibliographic Agency for Higher Education. Official website
Skjold Neckelmann was a Danish-German architect, best known for designing four Strasbourg buildings that are landmarks of the Neustadt district - the National and University Library, the National Theatre, the Palais de Justice and Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune Catholic Church. During his most productive years, Neckelmann worked as an associate with the German architect August Hartel. Neckelmann and Hartel designed many buildings together in Strasbourg including: 1888–1892: National Theatre 1889–1893: Catholic Church of Saint Peter the Younger 1889–1895: the National University LibraryWhen Hartel died in Strasbourg in 1890, Neckelmann was obliged to see through alone all the projects which they had conceived together, he went on to design the Strasbourg Palais de Justice alone. In 1901 he ceased all professional activity for health reasons. Neckelmann spent many years in Stuttgart. For many years he ran an architect's cabinet in Stuttgart, he taught architecture in Stuttgart. One of his pupils was Georg Stähelin.
He is the author of a number of books in German on architecture, but a book on Danish philosophers of the Renaissance. Neckelmann and Hartel designed the Christ Church and the Haus des Wirtschaft in Stuttgart, now a museum. 223 Projects by Neckelmann
Papyrus is a material similar to thick paper, used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge. Papyrus can refer to a document written on sheets of such material, joined together side by side and rolled up into a scroll, an early form of a book. Papyrus is first known to have been used in Egypt, as the papyrus plant was once abundant across the Nile Delta, it was used throughout the Mediterranean region and in the Kingdom of Kush. Apart from a writing material, ancient Egyptians employed papyrus in the construction of other artifacts, such as reed boats, rope and baskets. Papyrus was first manufactured in Egypt as far back as the fourth millennium BCE; the earliest archaeological evidence of papyrus was excavated in 2012 and 2013 at Wadi al-Jarf, an ancient Egyptian harbor located on the Red Sea coast. These documents date from c. 2560–2550 BCE. The papyrus rolls describe the last years of building the Great Pyramid of Giza.
In the first centuries BCE and CE, papyrus scrolls gained a rival as a writing surface in the form of parchment, prepared from animal skins. Sheets of parchment were folded to form quires from. Early Christian writers soon adopted the codex form, in the Græco-Roman world, it became common to cut sheets from papyrus rolls to form codices. Codices were an improvement on the papyrus scroll, as the papyrus was not pliable enough to fold without cracking and a long roll, or scroll, was required to create large-volume texts. Papyrus had the advantage of being cheap and easy to produce, but it was fragile and susceptible to both moisture and excessive dryness. Unless the papyrus was of perfect quality, the writing surface was irregular, the range of media that could be used was limited. Papyrus was replaced in Europe by the cheaper, locally produced products parchment and vellum, of higher durability in moist climates, though Henri Pirenne's connection of its disappearance with the Muslim conquest of Egypt is contested.
Its last appearance in the Merovingian chancery is with a document of 692, though it was known in Gaul until the middle of the following century. The latest certain dates for the use of papyrus are 1057 for a papal decree, under Pope Victor II, 1087 for an Arabic document, its use in Egypt continued until it was replaced by more inexpensive paper introduced by the Islamic world who learned of it from the Chinese. By the 12th century and paper were in use in the Byzantine Empire, but papyrus was still an option. Papyrus was made in several prices. Pliny the Elder and Isidore of Seville described six variations of papyrus which were sold in the Roman market of the day; these were graded by quality based on how fine, firm and smooth the writing surface was. Grades ranged from the superfine Augustan, produced in sheets of 13 digits wide, to the least expensive and most coarse, measuring six digits wide. Materials deemed unusable for writing or less than six digits were considered commercial quality and were pasted edge to edge to be used only for wrapping.
Until the middle of the 19th century, only some isolated documents written on papyrus were known, that museums displayed them as curiosities. They did not contain literary works; the first modern discovery of papyri rolls was made at Herculaneum in 1752. Until the only papyri known had been a few surviving from medieval times. Scholarly investigations began with the Dutch historian Caspar Jacob Christiaan Reuvens, he wrote about the content of the Leyden papyrus, published in 1830. The first publication has been credited to the British scholar Charles Wycliffe Goodwin, who published for the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, one of the Papyri Graecae Magicae V, translated into English with commentary in 1853; the English word "papyrus" derives, from Greek πάπυρος, a loanword of unknown origin. Greek has a second word for it, βύβλος; the Greek writer Theophrastus, who flourished during the 4th century BCE, uses papyros when referring to the plant used as a foodstuff and byblos for the same plant when used for nonfood products, such as cordage, basketry, or writing surfaces.
The more specific term βίβλος biblos, which finds its way into English in such words as'bibliography','bibliophile', and'bible', refers to the inner bark of the papyrus plant. Papyrus is the etymon of'paper', a similar substance. In the Egyptian language, papyrus was called wadj, djet; the word for the material papyrus is used to designate documents written on sheets of it rolled up into scrolls. The plural for such documents is papyri. Historical papyri are given identifying names — the name of the discoverer, first owner or institution where they are kept—and numbered, such as "Papyrus Harris I". An abbreviated form is used, such as "pHarris I"; these documents provide important information on ancient writings. When, in the 18th century, a library of ancient papyri was found in Herculaneum, ripples of expectation spread among the learned men of the time. However, since these papyri were badly charred, their unscrolling and deciphe
Virtual International Authority File
The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. Discussion about having a common international authority started in the late 1990s. After a series of failed attempts to come up with a unique common authority file, the new idea was to link existing national authorities; this would present all the benefits of a common file without requiring a large investment of time and expense in the process. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library and the OCLC on August 6, 2003; the Bibliothèque nationale de France joined the project on October 5, 2007. The project transitioned to being a service of the OCLC on April 4, 2012; the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together. A VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary "see" and "see also" records from the original records, refers to the original authority records.
The data are available for research and data exchange and sharing. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol; the file numbers are being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAF's clustering algorithm is run every month; as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records. Authority control Faceted Application of Subject Terminology Integrated Authority File International Standard Authority Data Number International Standard Name Identifier Wikipedia's authority control template for articles Official website VIAF at OCLC