Background of the Bear Flag Revolt.

Alta California's Governance.

By 1845–46, Alta California had been largely neglected by Mexico for the twenty-five years since Mexican independence. It had evolved into a semi-autonomous region with open discussions among Californios about whether California should remain with Mexico; seek independence; or become annexed to the United Kingdom, France, or the United States. The 1845 removal of Manuel Micheltorena, the latest governor to be sent by Mexico and forcefully ejected by the Californians, resulted in a divided government. The region south of San Luis Obispo was ruled by Governor Pío Pico with his capital in "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Porciúncula River", now known as Los Angeles. The area to the north of the pueblo of San Luis Obispo was under the control of Alta California's "Commandante" José Castro with headquarters near Monterey, the traditional capital and, significantly, the location of the Customhouse. Pico and Castro disliked each other personally and soon began escalating disputes over control of the Customhouse income.  Decrees issued by the central government in Mexico City were often acknowledged and supported with proclamations but ignored in practice. By the end of 1845, when rumors of a military force being sent from Mexico proved to be false, rulings by the other district government were mostly ignored.

Texas, immigration and land.

The relationship between the United States and Mexico had been deteriorating for some time. The Republic of Texas, which Mexico still considered to be its territory, had been admitted to statehood in 1845. Mexico had earlier threatened war if this happened. James K. Polk was elected President of the United States in 1844, and considered his election a mandate for his expansionist policies.  Mexican law had long allowed grants of land to naturalized Mexican citizens. Obtaining Mexican citizenship was not difficult and many earlier American immigrants had gone through the process and obtained free grants of land. That same year (1845) anticipation of war with the United States and the increasing number of immigrants reportedly coming from the United States resulted in orders from Mexico City denying immigrants from the United States entry into California. The orders also required California's officials not to allow land grants, sales or even rental of land to non-citizen emigrants already in California. All non-citizen immigrants, who had arrived without permission, were threatened with being forced out of California.  Alta California's Sub-Prefect Francisco Guerrero had written to U.S. Consul Thomas O. Larkin that:  During November 1845, California's "Commandante General" José Castro met with representatives of the 1845 American immigrants at Sonoma and Sutter's Fort. In his decree dated November 6 he wrote: "Therefore conciliating my duty [to enforce the orders from Mexico] with of the sentiment of hospitality which distinguishes the Mexicans, and considering that most of said expedition is composed of families and industrious people, I have deemed it best to permit them, provisionally, to remain in the department" with the conditions that they obey all laws, apply within three months for a license to settle, and promise to depart if that license was not granted.

Captain Frémont in California.

A 62-man exploring and mapping expedition entered California in late 1845 under the command of U.S. Army Brevet Captain John C. Frémont. Frémont was well known in the United States as an author and explorer. He was also the son-in-law of expansionist U.S. Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Early in 1846 Frémont acted provocatively with California's "Commandante General" José Castro near the pueblo of Monterey and then moved his group out of California into Oregon Country. He was followed into Oregon by U.S. Marine Lt Archibald H. Gillespie who had been sent from Washington with a secret message to U.S. Consul Thomas O. Larkin and instructions to share the message with Frémont. Gillespie also brought a packet of letters from Frémont's wife and father-in-law.  Frémont's thoughts (as related in his book, written forty years later) after reading the message and letters were: "I saw the way opening clear before me. War with Mexico was inevitable; and a grand opportunity presented itself to realize in their fullest extent the far-sighted views of Senator Benton. I resolved to move forward on the opportunity and return forthwith to the Sacramento valley in order to bring to bear all the influence I could command." Nevertheless, Frémont needed to be circumspect. As a military officer he could face court-martial for violating the Neutrality Act of 1794 that made it illegal for an American to wage war against another country at peace with the United States. The next morning Gillespie and Frémont's group departed for California. Frémont returned to the Sacramento Valley and set up camp near Sutter Buttes.

USS "Portsmouth" in the San Francisco Bay.

U.S. Consul Thomas O. Larkin, concerned about the increasing possibility of war, sent a request to Commodore John D. Sloat of U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron, for a warship to protect U.S. citizens and interests in Alta California. In response, the arrived at Monterey on April 22, 1846. After receiving information about Frémont's returning to California, Consul Larkin and "Portsmouth's" captain John Berrien Montgomery decided the ship should move into the San Francisco Bay. She sailed from Monterey on June 1.  Lt. Gillespie, having returned from the Oregon Country and his meeting with Frémont on June 7, found "Portsmouth" moored at Sausalito. He carried a request for money, materiel and supplies for Frémont's group. The requested resupplies were taken by the ship's launch up the Sacramento River to a location near Frémont's camp.

Bear Flag Revolt.

Settlers meet with Frémont.

William B. Ide, a future leader of the Revolt, writes of receiving an unsigned written message on June 8, 1846: "Notice is hereby given, that a large body of armed Spaniards on horseback, amounting to 250 men, have been seen on their way to the Sacramento Valley, destroying crops and burning houses, and driving off the cattle. Capt. Fremont invites every freeman in the valley to come to his camp at the Butts [sic], immediately; and he hopes to stay the enemy and put a stop to his" – (Here the sheet was folded and worn in-two, and no more is found). Ide and other settlers quickly traveled to Frémont's camp but were generally dissatisfied by the lack of a specific plan and their inability to obtain from Frémont any definite promise of aid.

Taking of government horses.

Some of the group who had been meeting with Frémont departed from his camp and, on June 10, 1846, captured a herd of 170 Mexican government-owned horses being moved by "Californio" soldiers from San Rafael and Sonoma to the Californian "Commandante General", José Castro, in Santa Clara. It had been reported amongst the emigrants that the officer in charge of the herd had made statements threatening that the horses would be used by Castro to drive the foreigners out of California. The captured horses were taken to Frémont's new camp at the junction of the Feather and Bear rivers.  These men next determined to seize the "pueblo" of Sonoma to deny the "Californios" a rallying point north of San Francisco Bay. Capturing both the arms and military materiel stored in the unmanned Presidio of Sonoma and Mexican Lieutenant Colonel Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo would delay any military response from the "Californios". The insurgent group was nominally led by Ezekiel "Stuttering Zeke" Merritt, whom Frémont described as his "field-lieutenant" and lauded for not questioning him.

Capture of Sonoma.

Historian George Tays has cautioned "The description of the men, their actions just prior and subsequent to the taking of Sonoma, are as varied as the number of authors. No two accounts agree, and it is impossible to determine the truth of their statements." Historian H. H. Bancroft has written that Frémont "instigated and planned" the horse raid, and incited the American settlers indirectly and "guardedly" to revolt.  Before dawn on Sunday, June 14, 1846, over 30 American insurgents arrived at the pueblo of Sonoma. They had traveled overnight from Napa Valley. A majority of their number had started a couple of days earlier from Fremont's camp in the Sacramento valley but others had joined the group along the way. Meeting no resistance, they approached "Comandante" Vallejo's home and pounded on his door. After a few minutes Vallejo opened the door dressed in his Mexican Army uniform. Communication was not good until American Jacob P. Leese (Vallejo's brother-in-law) was summoned to translate.  Vallejo then invited the filibusters' leaders into his home to negotiate terms. Two other Californio officers and Leese joined the negotiations. The insurgents waiting outside sent elected "captains" John Grigsby and William Ide inside to speed the proceedings. The effect of Vallejo's hospitality in the form of wine and brandy for the negotiators and someone else's barrel of "aguardiente" for those outside is debatable. However, when the agreement was presented to those outside they refused to endorse it. Rather than releasing the Mexican officers under parole they insisted they be held as hostages. John Grigsby refused to remain as leader of the group, stating he had been deceived by Frémont. William Ide gave an impassioned speech urging the rebels to stay in Sonoma and start a new republic. Referring to the stolen horses Ide ended his oration with "Choose ye this day what you will be! We are robbers, or we "must" be conquerors!"  At that time, Vallejo and his three associates were placed on horseback and taken to Frémont accompanied by eight or nine of the insurgents who did not favor forming a new republic under the circumstances. That night they camped at the Vaca Rancho. Some young Californio "vigilantes" under Juan Padilla evaded the guards, aroused Vallejo and offered to help him escape. Vallejo declined, wanting to avoid any bloodshed and anticipating that Frémont would release him on parole.  The Sonoma Barracks became the headquarters for the remaining twenty-four rebels, who within a few days created their Bear Flag (see the "Bear Flag" section below). After the flag was raised Californios called the insurgents "Los Osos" (The Bears) and "Bear Flaggers" because of their flag and in derision of their often scruffy appearance. The rebels embraced the expression, and their uprising, which they originally called the "Popular Movement", became known as the "Bear Flag Revolt". Henry L. Ford was elected First Lieutenant of the company and obtained promises of obedience to orders. Samuel Kelsey was elected Second Lieutenant, Grandville P. Swift and Samuel Gibson Sergeants.

Ide's proclamation.

William B. Ide wrote a proclamation announcing and explaining the reasons for the revolt during the night of June 14–15, 1846 (below). There were additional copies and some more moderate versions (produced in both English and Spanish) distributed around northern California through June 18.

Need for gunpowder.

A major problem for the Bears in Sonoma was the lack of sufficient gunpowder to defend against the expected Mexican attack. William Todd was dispatched on Monday the fifteenth, with a letter to be delivered to the USS "Portsmouth" telling of the events in Sonoma and describing themselves as "fellow country men". Todd, having been instructed not to repeat any of the requests in the letter (refers to their need for gunpowder), disregarded that and voiced the request for gunpowder. Captain Montgomery, while sympathetic, declined because of his country's neutrality. Todd, José de Rosa (the messenger Vallejo sent to Montgomery), and U.S. Navy Lieutenant John S. Misroon returned to Sonoma in the Portsmouth's launch the morning of the 16th. Misroon's mission was, without interfering with the revolt, to prevent violence to noncombatants.  Todd was given a second assignment. He was sent to Bodega Bay with an unnamed companion (sometimes called 'the Englishman') to obtain powder from American settlers in that area. On June 18, Bears Thomas Cowie and George Fowler were sent to "Rancho Sotoyome" (near current-day Healdsburg, California) to pick up a cache of gunpowder from Moses Carson, brother of Frémont's scout Kit Carson.

Sutter's Fort.

Frémont's "field-lieutenant" Merritt returned to Sacramento (known as New Helvetia at the time, so named by the Swiss John Sutter) on June 16 with his prisoners and recounted the events in Sonoma. Frémont either was fearful of going against the popular sentiment at Sonoma or saw the advantages of holding the "Californio" officers as hostages. He also decided to imprison Governor Vallejo's brother-in-law, the American Jacob Leese, in Sutter's Fort. Frémont recounts in his memoirs, "Affairs had now assumed a critical aspect and I presently saw that the time had come when it was unsafe to leave events to mature under unfriendly, or mistaken, direction... I knew the facts of the situation. These I could not make known, but felt warranted in assuming the responsibility and acting on my own knowledge."  Frémont's artist and cartographer on his third expedition, Edward Kern, was placed in command of Sutter's Fort and its company of dragoons by Frémont. That left John Sutter the assignment as lieutenant of the dragoons at $50 a month, and second in command of his own fort.  While in command there news of the stranded Donner Party reached Kern; Sutter's Fort had been their unreached destination. Kern vaguely promised the federal government would do something for a rescue party across the Sierra, but had no authority to pay anyone. He was later criticized for his mismanagement delaying the search.

Castro's response.

Word of the taking of the government horses, the capture of Sonoma, and the imprisonment of the Mexican officers at Sutter's Fort soon reached "Commandante General" José Castro at his headquarters in Santa Clara. He issued two proclamations on June 17. The first asked the citizens of California to come to the aid of their country. The second promised protection for all foreigners not involved in the revolt. A group of 50–60 militia under command of Captain Joaquin de la Torre traveled up to San Pablo and, by boat, westward across the San Francisco Bay to Point San Quentin on the 23rd. Two additional divisions with a total of about 100 men arrived at San Pablo on June 27.

Battle of Olúmpali.

On June 20 when the procurement parties failed to return as expected, Lieutenant Ford sent Sergeant Gibson with four men to "Rancho Sotoyome". Gibson obtained the powder and on the way back fought with several Californians and captured one of them. From the prisoner they learned that Cowie and Fowler had died. There are Californio and "Oso" versions of what had happened. Ford also learned that William Todd and his companion had been captured by the Californio irregulars led by Juan Padilla and José Ramón Carrillo.  Ford writes, in his biography, that before leaving Sonoma to search for the other two captives and Padilla's men, he sent a note to Ezekiel Merritt in Sacramento asking him to gather volunteers to help defend Sonoma. Ide's version is that Ford wrote to Frémont saying that the Bears had lost confidence in Ide's leadership. In either case, Ford then rode toward Santa Rosa with seventeen to nineteen Bears. Not finding Padilla, the Bears headed toward one of his homes near Two Rock. The following morning the Bears captured three or four men near the Rancho Laguna de San Antonio and unexpectedly discovered what they assumed was Juan Padilla's group near the Indian rancho of Olúmpali. Ford approached the adobe but more men appeared and others came "pouring out of the adobe". Militiamen from south of the Bay, led by Mexican Captain Joaquin de la Torre, had joined with Padilla's irregulars and now numbered about seventy. Ford's men positioned themselves in a grove of trees and opened fire when the enemy charged on horseback, killing one Californio and wounding another. During the ensuing long-range battle, William Todd and his companion escaped from the house where they were being held and ran to the Bears. The Californios disengaged from the long-range fighting after suffering a few wounded and returned to San Rafael. A Californian militiaman reported that their muskets could not shoot as far as the rifles used by some Bears. This was the only battle fought during the Bear Flag Revolt.  The deaths of Cowie and Fowler, as well as the lethal battle, raised the anxiety of both the Californios, who left the area for safety, and the immigrants, who moved into Sonoma to be under the protection of the muskets and cannon that had been taken from the Sonoma Barracks. This increased the number in Sonoma to about two hundred. Some immigrant families were housed in the Barracks, others in the homes of the Californios.

Frémont arrives to defend Sonoma.

Having learned of Ford's request for volunteers to defend Sonoma and hearing reports that General Castro was preparing an attack, Frémont left his camp near Sutter's Fort for Sonoma on June 23. With him were ninety men – his own party plus trappers and settlers under Samuel J. Hensley. Frémont would say in his memoirs that he wrote a letter of resignation from the Army and sent it to his father-in-law Thomas Hart Benton in case the government should wish to disavow his action. They arrived at Sonoma in the early morning of the 25th and by noon were on their way to San Rafael accompanied by a contingent of Bears under Ford's command. They arrived at the former San Rafael mission but the Californios had vanished. The rebels set up camp in the old mission and sent out scouting parties.  On Sunday the 28th a small boat was spotted coming across the bay. Kit Carson and some companions went to intercept it. It held twin brothers Francisco and Ramón de Haro, their uncle José de la Reyes Berreyesa, and an oarsman (probably one of the Castro brothers from San Pablo) – all unarmed. The Haro brothers and Berreyesa were dropped off at the shoreline and started on foot for the mission. All three were shot and killed. Beyond that almost every fact is disputed. Some say Frémont ordered the killings. Others, that they were carrying secret messages from Castro to Torre. Others that Carson committed the homicides as revenge for the deaths of Cowie and Fowler or they were shot by Frémont's Delaware Indians. This incident became an issue in Frémont's later campaign for President. Partisan eyewitnesses and newspapers related totally conflicting stories.

Captain de la Torre's ruse.

Late the same afternoon as the killings a scouting party intercepted a letter indicating that Torre intended to attack Sonoma the following morning. Frémont felt there was no choice but to return to defend Sonoma as quickly as possible. The garrison there had found a similar letter and had all weapons loaded and at the ready before dawn the next day when Frémont and Ford's forces approached Sonoma – almost provoking firing by the garrison. Frémont, understanding that he had been tricked, left again for San Rafael after a hasty breakfast. He arrived back at the old mission within twenty-four hours of leaving but during that period Torre and his men had time to escape to San Pablo via boat. Torre had successfully used the ruse not only to escape but almost succeeded in provoking a 'friendly fire' incident among the insurgents.  After reaching San Pablo, Torre reported that the combined rebel force was too strong to be attacked as planned. All three of Castro's divisions then returned to the old headquarters near Santa Clara where a council of war was held on June 30. It was decided that the current plan must be abandoned and any new approach would require the cooperation of Pio Pico and his southern forces. A messenger was sent to the Governor. Meanwhile, the army moved southwards to San Juan where General Castro was, on July 6, when he learned of the events in Monterey.

Actions in and around Yerba Buena.

On July 1, Frémont and twelve men convinced Captain William Phelps to ferry them in the "Moscow"'s launch to the old Spanish fort at the entrance to the Golden Gate. They landed without resistance and spiked the ten old, abandoned cannon. The next day Robert B. Semple led ten Bears in the launch to the pueblo of Yerba Buena (the future San Francisco) to arrest the naturalized Englishman Robert Ridley who was captain of the port. Ridley was sent to Sutter's Fort to be locked up with other prisoners.

Independence Day, 1846, in Sonoma.

A great celebration was held on the Fourth of July beginning with readings of the United States Declaration of Independence in Sonoma's plaza. There were also cannon salutes, the roasting of whole beeves, and the consumption of many foods and all manner of beverages. Frémont and the contingent from San Rafael arrived in time for the fandango held in Salvador Vallejo's big adobe on the corner of the town square.

Formation of the California Battalion.

On July 5, Frémont called a public meeting and proposed to the Bears that they unite with his party and form a single military unit. He said that he would accept command if they would pledge obedience, proceed honorably, and not violate the chastity of women. A compact was drawn up which all volunteers of the California Battalion signed or made their marks. A majority of those present also agreed to officially date the era of independence not from the taking of Sonoma but from July 5 to allow Frémont to "begin at the beginning".  The next day Frémont, leaving the fifty men of Company B at the Barracks to defend Sonoma, left with the rest of the Battalion for Sutter's Fort. They took with them two of the captured Mexican field pieces, as well as muskets, a supply of ammunition, blankets, horses, and cattle. The seven-ton "Mermaid" was used for transporting the cannon, arms, ammunition and saddles from Napa to Sutter's Fort.

U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps capture Monterey.

The war against Mexico had already been declared by the United States Congress on May 13, 1846. Because of the slow cross-continent communication of the time, no one in California knew that conclusively. (Official notice of the war finally reached California on August 12, 1846.) Commodore John D. Sloat, commanding the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron, had been waiting in Monterey Bay since July 1 or 2 to obtain convincing proof of war. Sloat was 65 years old and had requested to be relieved from his command the previous May. He was also acutely aware of the 1842 Capture of Monterey, when his predecessor, Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones, thought war had been declared and captured the capital of Alta California, only to discover his error and abandon it the next day. This resulted in diplomatic problems, and Jones was removed as commander of the Pacific Squadron.  Sloat had learned of Frémont's confrontation with the Californios on Gavilan Peak and of his support for the Bears in Sonoma. He was also aware of Lt. Gillespie's tracking down of Frémont with letters and orders. Sloat finally concluded on July 6 that he needed to act, saying to U.S. Consul Larkin, "I shall be blamed for doing too little or too much – I prefer the latter." Early July 7, the frigate USS "Savannah" and the two sloops, USS "Cyane" and USS "Levant" of the United States Navy, captured Monterey, California, and raised the flag of the United States. Sloat had his proclamation read in and posted in English and Spanish: "...henceforth California will be a portion of the United States."

Conclusion and aftermath.

Two days later, July 9, the Bear Flag Revolt and whatever remained of the "California Republic" ended when Navy Lieutenant Joseph Revere was sent to Sonoma from the USS "Portsmouth", which had been berthed at Sausalito, carrying two 27-star United States flags, one for Sonoma and the other for Sutter's Fort (the squadron had run out of new 28-star flags that reflected Texas' admittance to the Union). The Bear Flag that was taken down that day was given to the Clerk of the "Portsmouth", John Elliott Montgomery, the son of Commander John B. Montgomery. John E. wrote to his mother later in July that "Cuffy came down growling". The following November, John and his older brother disappeared while traveling to Sacramento and were presumed deceased. Commander Montgomery kept the Bear Flag, had a copy made, and eventually both were delivered to the Secretary of the Navy. In 1855 the Secretary sent both flags to the Senators from California who donated them to the Society of Pioneers in San Francisco. The original Bear Flag was destroyed in the fires following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. A replica, created in 1896 for the 50th Anniversary celebrations, is on display at the Sonoma Barracks.

Bear Flag.

The most notable legacy of the "California Republic" was the adoption of its flag as the basis of the modern state Flag of California. The flag has a star, a grizzly bear, and a red stripe with the words "California Republic." The "Bear Flag Monument" on the Sonoma Plaza, site of the raising of the original Bear Flag, is marked by a California Historical Landmark #7.  The design and creation of the original Bear Flag used in the Bear Flag Revolt is often credited to Peter Storm. The flags were made about one week before the storming of Sonoma, when William Todd and his companions claim to have made theirs, apparently based on Mr. Storm's first flags.  In 1878, at the request of the Los Angeles "Evening Express", William L. Todd (1818–1879) wrote an account of the Bear Flag used at the storming of Sonoma, perhaps the first to be raised. Soon after, his implementation became the basis for the first official State flag. Todd acknowledged the contributions of other "Osos" to the flag, including Granville P. Swift, Peter Storm, and Henry L. Ford in an 1878 newspaper article. Todd painted the flag on domestic cotton cloth, roughly a yard and a half in length. It featured a red star based on the California Lone Star Flag that was flown during California's 1836 revolt led by Juan Alvarado and Isaac Graham. The flag also featured an image of a grizzly bear salient or rampant (standing). The modern flag shows the bear passant (walking).

The California Republic () was an unrecognized breakaway state that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Sonoma County in California.

La république de Californie ( et ), aussi appelée la république du Drapeau à l'ours ( et ), fut le résultat d'une rébellion menée par des Américains le dans la ville de Sonoma contre les autorités de la province semi-autonome de Haute-Californie.


Club career.

He has played for Kolstad, Rosenborg BK, Celtic, F.C. Copenhagen and Bodø/Glimt (loan).  Brattbakk is most known for his goalscoring abilities for the Norwegian club Rosenborg BK where he has enjoyed three spells (1990–91, 1994–97 and 2001–06) scoring most of his goals which has helped him reach the top of the all-time goalscoring chart in the Norwegian Premier League.  At Celtic, where he played from December 1997 to January 2000, Brattbakk seemed overawed by the pressures of playing for one of Scotland's Old Firm clubs. Though he did enjoy some success with the club — including hitting the clinching goal against St Johnstone to help them win the SPL title on the final day of the 1997–1998 season, and scoring all four goals in a 4–0 win over Kilmarnock that same year — his spell in Glasgow was generally characterised by nervous performances and insufficient goals.  However, Brattbakk has been very successful in Norway. With 166 goals he was the highest-scoring player in the history of the Norwegian Premier League, until his record was beat by Sigurd Rushfeldt on 29 May 2011. Moreover, his record in the Champions League is an impressive one, and includes goals against such top sides as Real Madrid and Milan. He scored 28 goals in 66 matches for Rosenborg BK and scored 4 goals in 9 matches for Celtic in various European Cups. In November 2001, he scored twice against his old club Celtic as Rosenborg defeated them 2–0 in a Champions League tie in Trondheim.  Brattbakk returned to Rosenborg after being on a loan to Bodø/Glimt in the last half of the 2005 season, but on 20 February 2006 it was announced that he had been relieved from his contract and he has now retired from the game.  In 2008 Brattbakk made a comeback in football after signing a contract with his native Kolstad-Fotball, an amateur club in the Norwegian 3rd Division Dep. 19. However, the comeback lasted only for the rest of the 2008 season.

International career.

Brattbakk made his debut for Norway in a February 1995 friendly match against Estonia in which he scored two goals. He went on to play seventeen times for his country, scoring five goals.

Retirement.

On 21 November 2006 Brattbakk announced on the Norwegian television channel TV3 that he intended to become an airline pilot after his retirement from professional football. He trained as a pilot in Florida at Phoenix East Aviation, Inc. and got his commercial aircraft certification in 2008. Until 2010 he flew for the aircraft company Helitrans, based at Trondheim Airport, Værnes. This included missions for Norwegian Coast Guard. From 2010 he has been working as a pilot for Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Honours.

Club.

Bodø/Glimt  Rosenborg  Celtic  Copenhagen

Harald Martin Brattbakk (born 1 February 1971 in Trondheim) is a Norwegian former football player, now working as a pilot. A former striker, he was the all-time top scorer in the Norwegian top division with 166 goals in 255 matches, before being surpassed by Sigurd Rushfeldt in 2011.

Harald Brattbakk, né le à Trondheim (Norvège), est un footballeur norvégien, qui évoluait au poste d'attaquant au Rosenborg BK et en équipe de Norvège.


Plot.

A Christmas party is held at the Beast's castle sometime after the spell is broken, attended by almost the entire village. While reminiscing about the previous year's Christmas, Lumiere and Cogsworth get into an argument over who "saved" Christmas, prompting Mrs Potts to tell the story.  Going back a year, not long after the Beast saved Belle from the wolves, Belle anticipates the coming Christmas season, as do the other servants, though they reveal that the Beast is against the season since he was transformed into a Beast on Christmas Eve. To lighten his spirit, Belle teaches the Beast how to ice skate. They are observed from the West Wing by Forte, a pipe organ who was formerly the Prince's court composer and does not want the spell to break (meaning he never wanted to be human again) as he is of more use in his enchanted form. He sends his piccolo minion, Fife, to sabotage their newfound friendship, causing Belle and the Beast to crash into the snow. Then, when Belle makes a snow angel, the Beast sees his snow figure as a shadow of a monster. He roars, thrashes the snow and storms off in a fit of rage. As Fife claims that Forte will be proud of him, the Beast stomps back into his castle in fury and depression.  Despite the Beast's misgivings, Belle decides to celebrate Christmas without his consent, though the Beast gradually opens up to the idea with advice from Lumiere. Belle meets Forte in the West Wing and he suggests that she venture into the forest to find a Christmas tree, but he secretly tells the Beast that Belle is abandoning him. In fury, the Beast destroys the Christmas decorations in the dining room and storms off outside to look for Belle, leaving Angelique hopeless. Belle and a few more servants find and chop the tree down, but Belle falls through thin ice and almost drowns. The Beast intervenes and saves her in time, though he locks her in the dungeon for apparently breaking her promise not to leave.  As Belle is comforted inside the dungeon by the servants, the Beast has a change of heart when he finds a storybook present Belle left for him. He reads it and frees Belle, giving his consent to celebrate Christmas. Forte attempts to use his powers to bring the castle down and kill everyone. Fife betrays him and aids the Beast and Belle. The Beast reaches the West Wing and after a brief fight, damages Forte's keyboard. Forte smashes to the floor, destroyed. With Forte gone, the castle is repaired and Christmas is celebrated. The castle and servants are decked out in holiday decorations, right before Belle and the Beast do their famous ballroom dance from the first film.  Back in the present, Mrs Potts concludes that it was Belle who saved Christmas. Belle and the Prince enter the court to greet their guests, presenting Chip with a storybook as a present. As Fife, now the new court composer, leads the orchestra, the Prince and Belle share a moment on the balcony, where he gives her a rose as a gift.

Production.

In the wake of the success of "The Return of Jafar" (1994), The Walt Disney Company opened the Walt Disney Animation Canada studios in January 1996 to produce direct-to-video and potential theatrical films, as well as utilize the talent pool of Canadian animators. With 200 animators hired, Disney Animation Canada had two separate animation facilities in Toronto and Vancouver which were supervised by Joan Fischer, a former Canadian public television executive. Their first project was "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas", which went into pre-production later that spring. Additional animation work was done by Walt Disney Television Animation and Wang Film Productions Co., Ltd. located in Xindian District, Taipei, Taiwan, and Character Builders.  Initially, the film was going to be a direct sequel to the original film with the main villain slated to be Avenant, here depicted as Gaston's younger brother. Avenant's goal was to avenge Gaston by ruining the lives of Belle and the prince and threatening to kill them, reportedly using sorcery to transform the prince back into a Beast and frame Belle for it. Although he was cut out of the story and the plot had changed, these traits were incorporated into Forte, the pipe organ, who did not want the Beast to become human again. Unlike the other characters, Forte was animated entirely by computers.

Release.

The film was first released on VHS on November 11, 1997. A bare-bones DVD was released on October 13, 1998. Both editions were quickly taken out of print, and the film remained unavailable until Disney released the Special Edition DVD and VHS on November 12, 2002, just a month after the studio released the original film's Platinum Edition DVD and VHS release. The new DVD featured a remake music video of the song "As Long As There's Christmas" by Play. Also featured was a game titled Forte's Challenge, a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, Disney Song Selection, and Enchanted Environment, where it shows the Beast's Castle during the different seasons. The original film's Platinum Edition and this film's Special Edition were taken out of print at the same time in January 2003.  The film was released on Blu-ray on November 22, 2011, following the release of the Diamond Edition of the first film on October 5, 2010. In Australia, the film was released on Region 4 DVD on November 3, 2011 with the same features as the original "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" DVD. The Blu-ray release was placed into the Disney Vault along with the other two films.  The film was re-released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on a Blu-ray combo pack on October 25, 2016 — a little over one month after the first film's 25th anniversary Signature Edition was released.  In 2019, the film was re-released digitally for the first time on Disney+.

Reception.

Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film has a 13% "rotten" approval rating based on eight reviews.  Ty Burr, reviewing for "Entertainment Weekly", graded the film a C- concluding in his review, "All in all, a pretty soggy Christmas fruitcake. Will your kids eat it up? Sure, and that makes "Enchanted Christmas" worth a rental. But Disney really wants you to put this sucker in your permanent collection. And next to "Beauty and the Beast" — still the company's crown jewel — "Christmas" looks like a lump of coal."

Soundtrack.

The original score and songs were composed by Rachel Portman with lyrics written by Don Black. The film's songs were recorded "live" with an orchestra and the cast in a room, similar to the first film. "Stories", sung by Paige O'Hara, is about what Belle will give the Beast for a Christmas: a story book, and is heavily based on the motif in the finale of Jean Sibelius' symphony no. 5. "As Long As There's Christmas", the theme of the film, is about finding hope during Christmas Time. The song was sung by the cast of the film with a back-up chorus and is sung when Belle and the enchanted objects redecorate the castle for Christmas.  "Don't Fall In Love", sung by Tim Curry, displays Forte's plan on keeping the Beast away from Belle to stop the spell from breaking. "A Cut Above The Rest", also sung by the cast, is about how teamwork and friends are very important in life. "Deck The Halls" is performed during the opening title by Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Bernadette Peters, and the Chorus. A soundtrack was released on September 9, 1997. The album serves as the film's soundtrack and also as a Christmas album of traditional carols sung by Paige O'Hara.  Tracks 8 to 15 feature Paige O'Hara singing familiar Christmas carols:

Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas is a 1997 American direct-to-video animated Christmas musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It is a followup to the 1991 Disney animated film "Beauty and the Beast". The film sold 7.6million VHS tapes in 1997. This is the first of two followups to "Beauty and the Beast" that were released, with the other being "Belle's Magical World" (1998).

La Belle et la Bête 2 : Le Noël enchanté ou La Belle et la Bête : Un Noël enchanté au Québec ("") est le des studios Disney.


Biography.

The meeting of the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg at the 1867 World Fair in Paris decided his vocation. He conceived the project of going to Alaska to study the native languages in order to prove the Siberian origin of the Amerindians; At the time, this idea had few supporters. He may also have been interested in archeology by the discovery in 1864 in Équihen, by workers of the family business, human skeletons and antique objects2. Another likely influence is anthropologist Ernest Hamy, a 10-year-old fellow, with whom he will remain linked. The latter, first curator of the Ethnographic Museum of Trocadero and director of scientific missions from 1880 will later appeal to him. First stays in Alaska  At 19, he realizes his project of travel at his expense; he resided from spring 1871 to spring 1872 in Alaska, a region that has just been acquired by the United States after nearly a century of Russian occupation, and made a visit to the Aleutian Islands. He returns to France sixty masks from the Kodiak archipelago and eight others discovered in a burial cave Akhanh on the island of Unga (Aleutian Islands). According to S. Chauvet3, his youth and energy allow him to perform sports such as the solitary kayak trip from Unalaska to Kodiak, which facilitates the search for objects and impresses the locals.  Between 1873 and 1874, he traveled to Russia, St. Petersburg and Moscow, but also to Copenhagen, Helsinki, and Tartu to copy additional documentation on the peoples of the Bering Strait, partly for himself, in commissioned part of the American historian George Bancroft (1832-1918). He is one of the many assistants Bancroft relies on for writing his History of America. Pinart will collect a collection of documents and manuscripts and bequeath to him personal documents4.  Shortly after his return to France, he left for America. In 1875 and 1876 he visited Maine, Nova Scotia, Oregon, British Columbia, Washington State and Arizona.  In the meantime, he acquired in 1875 from the antique dealer Eugene Boban a large collection of Mesoamerican coins. He knows his first financial problems because, besides the expenses of the expedition of 1871-1872, he bought a good part of the library of Brasseur de Bourbourg. In 1879, Eugene Boban complains of not having received all of his due and the funds are missing to continue his explorations. Alphonse Pinart then negotiated with the Ministry of Education the financing of his expedition (granted April 2, 1878) jointly with Leon de Cessac, against the donation of his collection to the Museum of Ethnography Trocadero.  He received in 1874 for his trip to Alaska and the Strait of Bering the Gold Medal for study tour, missions and reconnaissance works of the Geographical Society, and in 1875, a medal of the International Geographical Union at of the Paris Congress. He will receive another in 1877 from the Acclimatization Society.  In 1877 he went to Antill

Alphonse Louis Pinart (February 26, 1852, Bouquinghem, Marquise (Pas-de-Calais) - February 13, 1911, Boulogne-Billancourt) was a French scholar, linguist, ethnologist and collector, specialist on the American continent. He studied the civilizations of the New World in the manner of the pioneers of the time, mixing the empirical observation of anthropological, ethnological and linguistic elements.

Alphonse Louis Pinart (, Bouquinghem, Marquise (Pas-de-Calais) -, Boulogne-Billancourt) est un savant français, linguiste, ethnologue et collectionneur, spécialiste du continent américain. Il étudia les civilisations du Nouveau Monde à la façon des pionniers de l'époque, mêlant l'observation empirique d'éléments anthropologiques, ethnologiques et linguistiques.


Concept.

The Institute drives innovation across Europe by integrating business, education and research organisations to collaborate and find solutions to pressing global challenges.  The EIT support the development of dynamic, long-term pan-European partnerships among leading companies, research labs and universities. These are called EIT Innovation Communities (Knowledge and Innovation Communities – KICs) and each is dedicated to finding solutions to a specific global challenge.  By creating opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs across Europe, the EIT creates jobs and delivers sustainable economic growth for Europe. Together with its leading partners, the EIT and its Innovation Communities offer a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities: education courses that combine technical and entrepreneurial skills, tailored business creation and acceleration services and innovation driven research projects.

EIT Innovation Communities.

The EIT's Innovation Communities (Knowledge and Innovation Communities – KICs) bring together businesses (industry and SMEs), research centres and universities as partners. They allow:  There are currently eight Innovation Communities and each focuses on a different societal challenge:  Each of the EIT Innovation Communities operates in Innovation Hubs. These hubs are spread across the EU to increase the impact of the EIT's activities. There are currently 50+ innovation hubs across Europe that include co-location centres, where education, research and business meet and interact.

Results.

Since the EIT was set up in 2008, it has delivered:

History.

The EIT was officially established on 11 March 2008 following the adoption of the EIT Regulation by the European Parliament and Council.  The EIT Governing Board designated the first three EIT Innovation Communities (EIT Climate-KIC, EIT Digital and EIT InnoEnergy) in December 2009.  In January 2014, the EIT became part of Horizon 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 2014–2020. Since then the EIT Community has grown to eight Innovation Communities:EIT Health and EIT Raw Materials – 2014; EIT Food – 2016; EIT Manufacturing and EIT Urban Mobility – 2018.  In May 2018, the European Commission put forward its proposal for Horizon Europe, the next research and innovation framework programme for 2021–2027. It is proposed that the EIT will be part of Pillar 3 – Open Innovation.

Funding.

An initial budget of €308.7 million has helped launch and will continue to support the EIT network during the 2008–2013 period.  The EIT Strategic Innovation Agenda and the EIT's amended regulation, adopted by the European parliament and Council in December 2013, define the framework of the EIT's operations from 2014 to 2020. The strategy proposed a budget of EUR 2.4 billion within Horizon 2020.  The annual grant to the Knowledge and Innovation Communities is allocated on a competitive basis and may not exceed 25% of the global expenditure of the Innovation Communities. The remainder of the Innovation Communities' budget must be raised from other sources of financing.

Organization.

Governing Board.

The EIT Governing Board is the principal governing body, entrusted with the strategic leadership of the Institute and the overall direction of the operational activities implemented by the EIT Headquarters. It is independent and autonomous in its decision-making and is responsible for the selection, evaluation and support of the EIT Innovation Communities.  The EIT Governing Board has 12 members as well as one independent observer from the European Commission.

Headquarters.

The EIT Headquarters are located in Budapest, Hungary, in the 11th district's "Neumann Janos utca" (Infopark, Budapest Science park).

EIT House.

In 2017, the EIT officially opened the EIT House in Brussels. The EIT House serves two purposes, to increase awareness of the EIT among its stakeholders, and provide a space for members of the EIT Community to network and interact.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent EU Body created by the European Union in 2008 to strengthen Europe's ability to innovate. The EIT is an integral part of Horizon 2020, the EU's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

L'Institut européen d'innovation et de technologie (EIT, European Institute of Innovation and Technology en anglais) est un institut public européen établi le. Il fut mis en place dans le but de devenir un facilitateur d'innovation en Europe et a pour objectif de devenir l'un des principaux représentants de l'innovation, de la recherche et de la croissance dans l'Union européenne. L'EIT est né à la suite d'une proposition de la Commission européenne au Conseil européen adoptée le et a été mis en place dans le cadre de la stratégie de Lisbonne pour l'emploi et la croissance. Il permet l'intégration entre l’enseignement supérieur, la recherche et l’innovation avec pour objectif la réduction du déficit européen en termes d'innovation, partant du principe que cette dernière est un facteur important pour la croissance, la compétitivité et par conséquent, le progrès social au. Le concept initial n'est pas sans rappeler le Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) et sa politique d'intégration entre ces mêmes thèmes.


Relation to general linear group.

Construction from general linear group.

Concretely, given a vector space, it has an underlying affine space obtained by "forgetting" the origin, with acting by translations, and the affine group of can be described concretely as the semidirect product of by, the general linear group of : The action of on is the natural one (linear transformations are automorphisms), so this defines a semidirect product.  In terms of matrices, one writes: where here the natural action of on is matrix multiplication of a vector.

Stabilizer of a point.

Given the affine group of an affine space, the stabilizer of a point is isomorphic to the general linear group of the same dimension (so the stabilizer of a point in is isomorphic to ); formally, it is the general linear group of the vector space : recall that if one fixes a point, an affine space becomes a vector space.  All these subgroups are conjugate, where conjugation is given by translation from to (which is uniquely defined), however, no particular subgroup is a natural choice, since no point is special – this corresponds to the multiple choices of transverse subgroup, or splitting of the short exact sequence  In the case that the affine group was constructed by "starting" with a vector space, the subgroup that stabilizes the origin (of the vector space) is the original.

Matrix representation.

Representing the affine group as a semidirect product of by, then by construction of the semidirect product, the elements are pairs, where is a vector in and is a linear transform in, and multiplication is given by:  This can be represented as the block matrix:  where is an matrix over, an column vector, 0 is a row of zeros, and 1 is the identity block matrix.  Formally, is naturally isomorphic to a subgroup of, with embedded as the affine plane, namely the stabilizer of this affine plane; the above matrix formulation is the (transpose of) the realization of this, with the and ) blocks corresponding to the direct sum decomposition.  A similar representation is any matrix in which the entries in each column sum to 1. The similarity for passing from the above kind to this kind is the identity matrix with the bottom row replaced by a row of all ones.  Each of these two classes of matrices is closed under matrix multiplication.  The simplest paradigm may well be the case, that is, the upper triangular matrices representing the affine group in one dimension. It is a two-parameter non-Abelian Lie group, so with merely two generators (Lie algebra elements), and, such that, where  so that

Character table of.

has order. Since  we know has conjugacy classes, namely  Then we know that has irreducible representations. By above paragraph (), there exist one-dimensional representations, decided by the homomorphism  for, where  and,, is a generator of the group. Then compare with the order of, we have  hence is the dimension of the last irreducible representation. Finally using the orthogonality of irreducible representations, we can complete the character table of :

Planar affine group.

According to Rafael Artzy, "The linear part of each affinity [of the real affine plane] can be brought into one of the following standard forms by a coordinate transformation followed by a dilation from the origin:  where the coefficients,,, and are real numbers."  Case 1 corresponds to similarity transformations which generate a subgroup of similarities. Euclidean geometry corresponds to the subgroup of congruences. It is characterized by Euclidean distance or angle, which are invariant under the subgroup of rotations.  Case 2 corresponds to shear mappings. An important application is absolute time and space where Galilean transformations relate frames of reference. They generate the Galilean group.  Case 3 corresponds to squeeze mapping. These transformations generate a subgroup, of the planar affine group, called the Lorentz group of the plane. The geometry associated with this group is characterized by hyperbolic angle, which is a measure that is invariant under the subgroup of squeeze mappings.  Using the above matrix representation of the affine group on the plane, the matrix is a 2 × 2 real matrix. Accordingly, a non-singular must have one of three forms that correspond to the trichotomy of Artzy.

Other affine groups.

General case.

Given any subgroup of the general linear group, one can produce an affine group, sometimes denoted analogously as.  More generally and abstractly, given any group and a representation of on a vector space, one gets an associated affine group : one can say that the affine group obtained is "a group extension by a vector representation", and as above, one has the short exact sequence:

Special affine group.

The subset of all invertible affine transformations preserving a fixed volume form, or in terms of the semi-direct product, the set of all elements with of determinant 1, is a subgroup known as the special affine group.

Projective subgroup.

Presuming knowledge of projectivity and the projective group of projective geometry, the affine group can be easily specified. For example, Günter Ewald wrote:

Poincaré group.

The Poincaré group is the affine group of the Lorentz group :  This example is very important in relativity.

In mathematics, the affine group or general affine group of any affine space over a field is the group of all invertible affine transformations from the space into itself.

Les automorphismes d'un espace affine A constituent un groupe appelé groupe affine de A et noté GA(A). En notant "E" l'espace vectoriel qui dirige "A", l'application qui à tout automorphisme u de A fait correspondre l'automorphisme "f" de E associé à "u" est un morphisme du groupe affine GA(A) dans le groupe linéaire GL(E). Son noyau forme le groupe des translations.


Background and co-regency.

The Seleucid empire gained control of Bactria and the surrounding regions between 308 and 305 BC and made it a satrapy (province) of their empire. Diodotus' father, Diodotus I ruled the region of Bactria as a satrap (governor) some time in the 260s BC and gradually drifted into independence during the reign of the Seleucid king Antiochus II Theos (261-246 BC). The process culminated in Diodotus I's proclamation of himself as king sometime between 255 and 245 BC.  Coinage minted under Diodotus I derives from two separate mints. The coinage of one mint features a mature man on the obverse—generally identified as Diodotus I, while the obverse of coinage produced at the other mint depicts a similar, but younger, figure. Frank L. Holt proposes that the latter was Diodotus II. He suggests that Diodotus was entrusted with control of a portion of the realm that included the second mint. This arrangement would follow the model laid down by the Seleucids, who had made a practice of appointing the crown prince as co-regent and entrusting them with government of the eastern portion of the empire (including Bactria). The location of the region under Diodotus II's control is unknown; Holt tentatively suggests that he controlled the western region which was exposed to raids from Parthia and had his base at Bactra.

Reign.

During his reign, Diodotus I had expelled the Parni king Arsaces from Bactria. Arsaces had gone on to seize the region of Parthia from the Seleucids and carved out his own kingdom in what is now northeastern Iran. Diodotus I remained opposed to the Parni and thus aligned with the Seleucids. On his accession, Diodotus II reversed his father's policy:  This battle between Seleucus II and Arsaces took place around 228 BC. It is unclear whether Diodotus was actively involved in the battle or simply agreed to remain neutral, thereby leaving Arsaces free to bring all his forces to bear on the invading Seleucid army.  Sometime after this, around 225 BC, Diodotus was killed by Euthydemus I, who usurped the throne and founded the Euthydemid dynasty. W. W. Tarn proposed that Diodotus I had married a Seleucid princess as a second wife and had a daughter who was married to Euthydemus, making him Diodotus II's brother-in-law. There is, however, no evidence for the existence of either of these women and the theory no longer enjoys credence with contemporary scholars. Archaeological evidence reveals that the city of Ai-Khanoum was besieged around 225 BC, an event which Holt connects with Euthydemus' seizure of power. It seems therefore that there was a period of civil war, culminating in Euthydemus' victory—a reconstruction that seems to be confirmed by numismatic evidence.  Most scholars have treated the alliance with Arsaces as a response to the threat from Seleucus II. Tarn suggested that Euthydemus I's usurpation was a reaction to the alliance. Frank Holt proposes the opposite: that the alliance with Arsaces was a response to the outbreak of civil war with Euthydemus.

Coinage.

Diodotus II largely continued the minting patterns laid down by his father. There were two mints, which issued gold, silver and bronze coinage. The precious metal coinage consisted of gold staters and silver tetradrachms, drachms, and hemidrachms on the Attic weight standard. These coins have the head of a male figure on the obverse shown wearing the diadem—a band of cloth wrapped around the head, with two strips hanging down the back, which had been the standard symbol of Hellenistic kingship since the time of Alexander the Great. The reverse of these coins depicted Zeus preparing to throw his thunderbolt. As mentioned above, during Diodotus I's reign, two different figures appeared on the obverses—an older figure ('series A') and a younger figure ('series C & E'), who are identified with Diodotus I and Diodotus II respectively. Series A and C probably minted at Ai-Khanoum or at Bactra, while Series E was minted at a second mint, which Frank Holt tentatively identifies with Bactra. This mint produced coinage in a smaller quantity and at a lower quality than that of the Ai-Khanoum/Bactra mint. He proposes that the small series C was minted at the main mint in order to establish Diodotus II's position as heir apparent of the whole kingdom.  After a break, both mints produce coins with the younger portrait and with the legend now ('Of Diodotus','series D & F'), whereas the legend on the earlier coins was ('Of King Antiochus'). Holt suggests that this break marks the death of Diodotus I and accession of Diodotus II. This shift in legends seems to reflect the final renunciation of Seleucid authority and a full proclamation of Bactrian independence.  For the majority of his reign, Diodotus II issued coinage on a relatively modest scale. Towards the end of his reign, he began to mint on a much larger scale, with greater quantities of gold coinage than previously. This was accompanied by the production of an issue at the secondary mint, depicting the older figure of Diodotus I once more, but in a more idealised fashion ('series B'). Frank Holt proposes that these phenomena were a consequence of a civil war between Diodotus II and Euthydemus. He argues that the scale of minting indicates the need to provide coinage for a large number of soldiers—indicating some kind of military threat—while the series B coinage may have been intended to emphasise Diodotus II's legitimacy as son of the kingdom's founder.  Diodotus II also issued a bronze coinage. Initially, this coinage bore the same obverse design as that of Diodotus I: head of Hermes wearing a petasus hat ('Series H'). However, the reverse design is new: a depiction of Athena resting on her spear and the introduction of a new legend, reading "Βασιλεωσ Διοδοτου" ("of King Diodotus"), as on the gold and silver coinage. The coinage consisted of four denominations: a 'double' (c. 8.4 grammes, 20-24 millimetres in diameter), a'single' (4.2 g, 14-18 mm), a 'half' (2.1g, 10-12 mm), and a 'quarter' (1 g, 8-10 mm). Only the first two of these denominations seem to be attested under Diodotus I. The value of these denominations is uncertain; a single may have been worth 1/48th of a silver drachm. After this initial issue, Diodotus introduced a new set of designs ('Series I'). On the double and single denominations, these depict the head of Zeus on the obverse (except on one issue depicting a king—probably by accident), and the goddess Artemis on the reverse. On the quarters, they have an eagle on the obverse and a quiver on the reverse (symbols of Zeus and Artemis respectively). These bronze coins were found in very large numbers in the excavations of Ai-Khanoum and in smaller quantities at Gyaur Gala (Merv, Turkmenistan) and Takhti-Sangin. The profusion of bronze coinage, whose value was token, especially in the very smallest denominations, indicates the progressive monetisation taking place in Bactria by the time of Diodotus II.  Diodotus appears also on coins struck in his memory by the later Graeco-Bactrian kings Agathocles and Antimachus. These coins imitate the original design of the tetradrachms issued by Diodotus II, but with a legend on the obverse identifying the king as ('Of Diodotus Theos').

Diodotus II Theos (Greek: ; died c. 225 BC) was the son of Diodotus I, who led Bactria to independence from the Seleucid empire, establishing the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. Diodotus II probably ruled alongside his father as co-regent, before succeeding him as sole king around 235 BC. He prevented Seleucid efforts to reincorporate Bactria into their empire, by allying with the Parthians against them. He was killed around 225 BC by the usurper Euthydemus I, who succeeded him as king.

Diodote / Diodotos / Diodotus II Theos (en grec ) est souverain du royaume gréco-bactrien de 238 av. J.-C. ou 234 av. J.-C. à 230 av. J.-C. ou 221 av. J.-C.


History.

The territory of Chianti was initially limited, in the thirteenth century, by the municipalities of Gaiole in Chianti, Radda in Chianti and Castellina in Chianti and thus defined the "Chianti League" (Lega di Chianti).  Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, even decided in 1716 to issue an edict in which he officially recognized the boundaries of the Chianti district, which was the first legal document in the world to define a wine production area.  The villages of Chianti are often characterized by Romanesque churches and fortified medieval castles, signs of the ancient wars between Siena and Florence or as Monteriggioni, a fortified village north of Siena, on the ancient Via Cassia that leads to Florence.  In 1932, the wine designation specified the production limits for Chianti Classico, which is a DOCG (in Italian "Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita", governed by Italian regulations).

Geography.

In addition to the cities already mentioned at the origin of this region, the city of Greve in Chianti radically expresses its connection directly in its name or as Impruneta which claims the name Impruneta in Chianti although it is not an official designation.

Agriculture.

Like all rural regions of Tuscany, there is no monoculture and there are vineyards, olive trees, cereals and potatoes.

Silviculture.

In the lower hills, there is the exploitation of oak woods, on the higher hills those of chestnut and holm oaks. Everywhere there are cypresses.

Viticulture.

The name of Chianti wine refers to a region strictly located in the provinces of Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Pistoia, Pisa and Prato.  Cities in the region with explicit reference in their names:

Chianti (), in Italy also referred to as Monti del Chianti ("Chianti Mountains") or Colline del Chianti ("Chianti Hills"), is a rural region of Tuscany in the provinces of Florence, Siena and Arezzo, composed mainly of hills and mountains. It is known worldwide for the wine produced in and named for the region, Chianti.

Le Chianti ("I Monti del Chianti" ou" Colline del Chianti") est une région rurale de Toscane en Italie des provinces de Florence, Sienne et Arezzo, composée essentiellement de collines et de montagnes. Elle est connue mondialement par son vin.


History.

"1919" - Creation of the chemical institute by the professors T.Muller and H.Gault. Lectures are taught rue Goethe in Strasbourg.  "1948" - Creation at the same place of the Ecole nationale supérieure de chimie (ENSCS) by the professor H. Forestier.  "1962" - The Ecole de chimie has place in new premises (tour de la Chimie) on the. The first practical sessions from the ENSCS in analytical chemistry begin at the start of the school year 1962.  "1968" - The ENSCS becomes a public organization.  "1981" - The professor M. Daire introduces the European teaching program.  "1986" - The ENSCS becomes Ecole Européenne des hautes études des industries chimiques de Strasbourg (EHICS)  "1995" - The EHICS, the Ecole d'application des hauts Polymères and the Magistère matériaux de l'université de Strasbourg-I group together and form the Ecole de chimie, Polymères et Matériaux (ECPM).  "1998-1999" - The ECPM moves to new premises on the University's Cronenbourg campus.  "2006" - Strasbourg becomes business cluster of the French chemistry.  "2009" - The and the other universities of Strasbourg are joined and form l'  "2011" - Opening of the new Classe préparatoire intégrée internationale (CP2I) - CHEM.I.ST. at the start of the school year 2011.

Admission to ECPM.

→ To enter the First year:  - The school recruit essentially with the «Concours Communs Polytechniques» (CCP) or the DEUG (which are national competitive exams).  - The admission could also be done by an interview with a License 3 in Chemistry or in Physics at the university, a DUT (university diploma of technology) for example, in Chemistry, physical measurements optional materials or chemical engineering.  - For international students, they must have a Bachelor of science or an equivalent foreign degree.  - After 2 years in CPI classes at Rennes (ENSCR), Lille(ENSCL), Clermont-Ferrand (ENSCCF) or in Strasbourg (ECPM: referred to the CPI classe's paragraph).  → To enter the Second year, students can have access at the ECPM having an interview, with a Master M1 in Physics with a speciality in Polymers or materials.  → Admission to the CP2i class in the ECPM, after the Baccalaureate, or an equivalent foreign degree for the international students.  There is no competitive exam, but every student should submit their school results. Then there are interviews to evaluate the motivations with the people in charge of the Chem.I.St programme. Approximately 50 students are selected every year. There are nearly 20% international students.

CP2I / Classe préparatoire intégrée internationale.

This class allows the students to gain admission to a school of the Fédération Gay Lussac (19 schools) after two years. These 2 years consist of studying engineer's trades in the domain of chemistry.  There are 5 CPIs in France: Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, Lille, Pau and Strasbourg at the ECPM  The last one was opened at the start of the 2011-12 school year in Strasbourg. The speciality of this school is that it welcomes a large number of international students, as well as that 20% of the courses are delivered in English and 10% are delivered in German (optional). There are 50 students in each year.  To gain admission to the CP2I:  Students are selected on the basis of their academic record and a 20-minute interview.  International students are also selected on the basis of their academic record and an interview.  General presentation of CPI-CHEM.I.ST :  The CPI-CHEM.I.ST base of more practical work than in an intensive foundation degree, with high-quality laboratory. The program includes group work to develop the communication, the creativity around scientists projects. Moreover, in 2016, a "videxo" program was created. During, the "videxo" student solves a science problem on a board and in the same time someone films him to send the video to the teachers. The goal of this is to promote self-confidence, speaking, and the scientist reflexion which are important qualities for the future engineer.

Speciality.

The speciality is chosen in the second year. Students have four possibilities:  Chemistry:  Organic Chemistry: With this speciality, students attain a high level in synthesis and characterization of organic chemistry.  Analytical Chemistry: Students are trained in techniques of analysis within the context of quality control.  Polymers: Students are trained to become flexible engineers in the polymer industry.  Materials: Students are trained in physics and chemistry of functional materials. Students become engineers specializing in conception and development of materials with an added value.

Community life.

There are several associations managed by school's students :  - l'Amicale (BDE) (or "Student Union" ): It manages the associative and festive life of the school, organizes students foyer's functioning, publishes students' directory and organizes events like, for example, new students integration's weekend. About ten clubs exist in the association like the Arts' Office, DéméTerre (sustainable development), Theatre Club, Manga Club, Cine Club, Gastronomy Club, study trip, etc.  - Le Bureau des Sports (BDS° (or Sports Office) : It allows students to do sport, to participate in university competitions and organizes events like a nice trip at the month for a weekend or at the (TIC) in spring. Moreover, the ECPM won this sports and festive event in 2006 which has been organized in Mulhouse.  - Le "Forum Horizon Chimie" (FHC) : It's the ECPM's association that organize a forum which happens every year at la in Paris.  Moreover, a junior company, Strasbourg Chimie Service, allows students-employed to make some punctual missions like chemical analyses, scientific conferences or translations of publications.  It also exists l'Amicale des Ingénieurs de Chimie de Strasbourg (Association of the Strasbourg's Engineers of Chemistry). It's an association aiming at conservation and relations' strengthening between graduates and students. It has in particular for ultimate objective the creation of a robust and big network ECPM, a very great tool for a successful career.  -Student common room  The ECPM Student common room is the center of the school. It is a place where students can relax after lunch or during off-peak times. It is a big place where you can find a table football, a billiard table, many couches and tables and even a microwave. In fact, it is possible to eat food you’ve brought. Moreover, there is a mezzanine with a hi-fi system, which makes you think of a nightclub and a terrace which is surrounded by trees and is really cozy. Everyone has the right to go to the student common room, the students in the engineering cycle and the CPI’s. Furthermore, the BDE and the BDS (respectively student union and sports office) sometime organize parties in the student common room (for example barbecues) to bring the whole school together. For example, there is the Welcome Party every year for new students.

Partners and networks.

The ECPM participated to many different networks in order to communicate with factories, institutions or students.  That different networks are :  -The Gay-Lussac federation: The federation was found by Louis Joseph Gay Lussac. It regroups no more than 20 schools of chemistry and chemical engineering. These 20 schools, through their teaching activities, research and training, are working together to raise awareness, develop and promote engineering courses in chemistry.  -The network “Alsace Tech“: Alsace Tech regroups 12 reputed engineering, management and architecture schools of Alsace. Its main objective is to promote, to contribute to the national and international influence and to increase the legibility of its schools' members.

Scientific Research.

The ECPM is a hub for scientific research. Five laboratories associated with the form the ECPM's research federation. The fields of research are varied: materials, catalysis, polymers, organic synthesis, analysis of biomolecules. The laboratories collaborate with industries and major European research organizations as part of European agreements. A 1000m2 hall with a cleanroom further the exchanges with industry.  Associated Laboratories  - The SYBIO Laboratory (Synthèse Organique et Molécules Bioactives)  - Laboratoire de Chimie Bioorganique et Médicale  - The Nierengarten group  - Laboratoire de Synthèse et Catalyse Asymétrique (SynCat)  - Laboratoire de Chimie organométallique

Food services.

You can find different kinds of food services in and around the campus.  - Restaurant universitaire (RU): this is the place where the majority of the students come everyday. The choice is between three different main courses: today's special, world's dish, and the grill. Patrons can also take a starter and a dessert, the whole for 3€15. Dining is in a large room with all the campus' students: CPI, engineers, and students of the IUT Louis Pasteur.  - Mini R : It's a new concept! It's located above the RU. The principle is the same as a cafeteria. You choose what you want: sandwiches, fagottini, fruits, desserts, drinks, and some hot food like pizzas, paninis, pasta and wok boxes, kebab, hot dog, etc. One can eat there or take away.  - Vending machine: in the school, next to the coffee machine. There are several kinds of sandwiches, but all of them are industrial.  - In the common room: it is mainly the place where the engineers eat because they are contributors (prices are less expansive for them). For those bringing food from their flat, you can warm up there; there are ovens and stovetops.  - Fast food and supermarkets: Finally, there is an area next to the IUT Louis Pasteur with fast food like Mac Donald, Mezzo di Pasta or supermarkets (Liddl, Intermarché).

Ranking.

According to the "Point" newspaper, the ECPM was ranked 18th in 2007 and was the leading chemistry schools in that rank (excluding chemical engineering) before the ENSCP which occupied the 30th rank. According to "L'Express", the school was ranked 27th as a "post-prépa" engineering school in 2008, behind the National School of Chemistry of Paris in the category of chemistry schools. Concerning starting incomes, the ECPM was ranked 10th by "L'Usine Nouvelle" in 2007. In the same newspaper, the ECPM is ranked 6th as a school betting on self-knowledge, that is to say, a school devoting a large part to non-scientific lectures.

The École européenne de chimie, polymères et matériaux (ECPM; European School of Chemistry, Polymers and Materials Science) of Strasbourg is a public engineering school in the city of Strasbourg, in Alsace, France. It was founded in 1948, and is located on the Cronenbourg Campus of the University of Strasbourg. Each year 90 students graduate from the school with a diplôme d'ingénieur. It is a National School of Engineers, part of the University of Strasbourg and a member of the, which recruits from the common polytechnic entrance examination. It is also part of the Alsace Tech network of nine engineering schools in Alsace. The ECPM offers its students three specialties: chemistry (analytical or organic), polymers or materials.

L’École européenne de chimie, polymères et matériaux de Strasbourg (ECPM) est l'une des françaises accréditées au à délivrer un diplôme d'ingénieur. Elle fait partie de l'Université de Strasbourg et du réseau Alsace Tech.


Distribution.

The pygmy cormorant occupies an area from the south-east of Europe (east of Italy) and the south-west of temperate Asia, east to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The largest distribution is in south-east Europe, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, the Balkan countries, Turkey, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq (namely the Tigris–Euphrates river system), Azerbaijan, Israel, Syria.  In Romania, according to studies of Czech ornithologist Robert Ritter von Dombrowski, at the end of the 19th century, the pygmy cormorant was present in large colonies in the Danube Delta, Brăila and Ialomița Pond, on Vederoasa Lake (Constanța County), on certain pools and ponds with reeds and willows in Muntenia. The number of pygmy cormorant pairs was 10,000 without taking in account the breeding population of the Danube Delta. Populations of pygmy cormorant in Romania have dramatically declined, especially in 1960 when, due to the communist agricultural policies, the Great Brăila Island and important parts of Ialomiţa Pond were drained in order to practice agriculture, so the habitats of a great number of aquatic birds were destroyed. The pygmy cormorant can be found in the Danube Delta, Jijia Largă Pond (Iasi County), probably on Maţa, Rădeanu, Vădeni Ponds (in Galați County), Cârja Pond (Vaslui County), at Vlădeşti on Prut River (Galați County), on Calinovăţ Island from Caraș-Severin County, on Small Brăila Island, on Dunăreni Pond (Mârleanu, Constanța County), in Danubian Plain on Parches Pond-Somova (Tulcea County).  At global scale, it was estimated that the entire population of pygmy cormorants is 85,000-180,000 individuals (a study effectuated by Wetlands International in 2006) and 74-94% of total population lives in Europe. The biggest colony is in the Danube Delta, numbering 4,000 pairs, but this seems certain to plunge due to a massive canalization scheme, which despite the protected status of the delta, commenced in May 2004. According to a study made by BirdLife International in 2004, it was estimated that population of pygmy cormorant in Romania was 11,500-14,000 pairs and during the winter 1,500-4,000 pairs.

Habitat and ecology.

Pygmy cormorants like pools with plenty of vegetation, lakes and river deltas. They avoid mountainous and cold and dry areas. They love rice fields or other flooded areas where trees and shrubs can be found. During winter they also go to waters with higher salinity, in estuaries or on barrier lakes. These are birds who can live alone or in groups and they have adapted to human presence. They build nests from sticks and reeds in dense vegetation, in trees, shrubs, willows but occasionally in reeds on small floating islets. At the end of May, beginning of June, both parents incubate for 27–30 days, and nestlings become independent after 70 days. The young are fed by their parents with small fish and other aquatic animals. This bird frequently shares the same type of habitat with egrets, herons and spoonbills.

Threats.

The pygmy cormorant is a species with habitats strongly affected by human actions. Threats include the drainage and serious degradation of wetlands and their associated woodland, water pollution, disturbance, and poaching as well as drowning in fishing nets.  Being a great fish consumer and destroyer of fishing nets, it is often persecuted by fishermen. In Romania, pond drainage located on the inferior course of the Danube for agricultural purposes, the accidental death of birds captive in improvised fishing nets, nest destruction by professional fishermen in order to protect fish resources decreased of the number of individuals which put the species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as a vulnerable species. It is also hunted in leisure activities, and in Iran the pygmy cormorant is commercialized for cooking.  This species is distinguished from the great cormorant and the common shag by its much smaller size, lighter build, and long tail.  It feeds mainly on fish, often hunting in groups, and perches in trees between fishing expeditions.  The pygmy cormorant is one of the species to which the "Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds" (AEWA) applies.

The pygmy cormorant ("Microcarbo pygmaeus") is a member of the Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant) family of seabirds. It breeds in south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further south, mostly within its breeding range. It is a rare migrant to western Europe.

Le Cormoran pygmée ("Microcarbo pygmeus") est une espèce d'oiseau de la famille des Phalacrocoracidae. C'est la plus petite des espèces de cormorans.


History.

The area that is now the borough of Åsane was historically called "Aasene" and it was a parish in the large municipality of Hamre from 1838 until 1 January 1904, when it was separated from Hamre to become a separate municipality. The new municipality of Åsane existed from then until 1 January 1972 when it was merged with the city of Bergen (along with the other neighboring municipalities of Arna, Fana, and Laksevåg). The Åsane area a primarily agricultural area until the 1960s-1970s when it was built up into a suburb of the city of Bergen. Centrally located in Åsane are the Gullgruven and Åsane Storsenter shopping centres, including a large IKEA store. Bergen Trotting track and Eikås Motorsport Centre are located at Haukås. The Bergen Jail is located at Hylkje in Åsane.

Geography.

Åsane lies on a peninsula surrounded by the Byfjorden, Salhusfjorden, and Sørfjorden. The tall mountain Veten is located in the central part of the peninsula.

Villages and neighborhoods.

The borough is somewhat rural in nature with several large developed villages and neighborhoods separated by forested mountains. Some of the larger village areas include Eidsvåg, Tertnes, Flaktveit, Hordvik and Hylkje.

Culture and sport.

Åsane has produced two well-known bands, Salhuskvintetten and Vinskvetten, formerly known as "Salhusvinskvetten". Kurt Nilsen's former band Breed is also from Åsane.  Åsane Fotball (soccer) is Norway's largest sports club. Its senior team plays in the second division.  Tertnes (part of Åsane) handball team, are one of the best handball teams in Norway, and are currently playing in the elite division.

Åsane is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the northern part of the city, north of the city centre.

Åsane est une ville norvégienne et un "bydel" de Bergen. On y trouve la prison de la ville, un circuit automobile, un centre commercial et un hippodrome.


Biochemistry.

SAM-e cycle.

The reactions that produce, consume, and regenerate SAM-e are called the SAM-e cycle. In the first step of this cycle, the SAM-dependent methylases (EC 2.1.1) that use SAM-e as a substrate produce "S"-adenosyl homocysteine as a product. "S"-Adenosyl homocysteine is a strong negative regulator of nearly all SAM-dependent methylases despite their biological diversity. This is hydrolysed to homocysteine and adenosine by "S"-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase EC 3.3.1.1 and the homocysteine recycled back to methionine through transfer of a methyl group from 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, by one of the two classes of methionine synthases (i.e. cobalamin-dependent (EC 2.1.1.13) or cobalamin-independent (EC 2.1.1.14)). This methionine can then be converted back to SAM-e, completing the cycle. In the rate-limiting step of the SAM cycle, MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) irreversibly reduces 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate to 5-methyltetrahydrofolate.

Radical SAM-e enzymes.

A large number of iron-sulfur cluster-containing enzymes cleave SAM-e reductively to produce a 5′-deoxyadenosyl 5′-radical as an intermediate, and are called radical SAM enzymes. Most enzymes with this capability share a region of sequence homology that includes the motif CxxxCxxC or a close variant. The radical intermediate allows enzymes to perform a wide variety of unusual chemical reactions. Examples of radical SAM enzymes include spore photoproduct lyase, activases of pyruvate formate lyase and anaerobic sulfatases, lysine 2,3-aminomutase, and various enzymes of cofactor biosynthesis, peptide modification, metalloprotein cluster formation, tRNA modification, lipid metabolism, etc. Some radical SAM-e enzymes use a second SAM-e as a methyl donor. Radical SAM enzymes are much more abundant in anaerobic bacteria than in aerobic organisms. They can be found in all domains of life and are largely unexplored. A recent bioinformatics study concluded that this family of enzymes includes at least 114,000 sequences including 65 unique reactions.

Polyamine biosynthesis.

Another major role of SAM-e is in polyamine biosynthesis. Here, SAM-e is decarboxylated by adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (EC 4.1.1.50) to form "S"-adenosylmethioninamine. This compound then donates its n-propylamine group in the biosynthesis of polyamines such as spermidine and spermine from putrescine.  SAM-e is required for cellular growth and repair. It is also involved in the biosynthesis of several hormones and neurotransmitters that affect mood, such as epinephrine. Methyltransferases are also responsible for the addition of methyl groups to the 2′ hydroxyls of the first and second nucleotides next to the 5′ cap in messenger RNA.

Therapeutic uses.

As of 2012 the evidence was inconclusive as to whether SAM can mitigate the pain of osteoarthritis; clinical trials that had been conducted were too small from which to generalize. A 2016 study concluded that for major depressive disorder, "Given the absence of high quality evidence and the inability to draw firm conclusions based on that evidence, the use of SAMe for the treatment of depression in adults should be investigated further."  The SAM-e cycle has been closely tied to the liver since 1947 because people with alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver would accumulate large amounts of methionine in their blood. While multiple lines of evidence from laboratory tests on cells and animal models suggest that SAM might be useful to treat various liver diseases, as of 2012 SAM had not been studied in any large randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials that would allow an assessment of its efficacy and safety.

Pharmacokinetics.

Oral SAM achieves peak plasma concentrations three to five hours after ingestion of an enteric-coated tablet (400–1000 mg). The half-life is about 100 minutes.

Adverse effects.

Gastrointestinal disorder, dyspepsia and anxiety can occur with SAM consumption. Long-term effects are unknown. SAM is a weak DNA-alkylating agent.  Another reported side effect of SAM is insomnia; therefore, the supplement is often taken in the morning. Other reports of mild side effects include lack of appetite, constipation, nausea, dry mouth, sweating, and anxiety/nervousness, but in placebo-controlled studies, these side effects occur at about the same incidence in the placebo groups.  SAM-e has recently been shown to play a role in epigenetic regulation. DNA methylation is a key regulator in epigenetic modification during mammalian cell development and differentiation. In mouse models, excess levels of SAM-e have been implicated in erroneous methylation patterns associated with diabetic neuropathy. SAM-e serves as the methyl donor in cytosine methylation, which is a key epigenetic regulatory process. Because of this impact on epigenetic regulation, SAM-e has been tested as an anti-cancer treatment. Cancer cell proliferation is dependent on having low levels of DNA methylation. In vitro addition has been shown to remethylate promoter sequences and decrease the production of proto-oncogenes.  Deficiencies in radical SAM-e enzymes have been associated with a variety of diseases including congenital heart disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and increased viral susceptibility.

Interactions and contraindications.

Taking SAM at the same time as some drugs may increase the risk of serotonin syndrome, a potentially dangerous condition caused by having too much serotonin. These drugs include dextromethorphan (Robitussin), meperidine (Demerol), pentazocine (Talwin), and tramadol (Ultram). SAM may also interact with antidepressant medications increasing the potential for their side effects and reduce the effectiveness of levodopa for Parkinson's disease.  People who have bipolar disorder should not use SAM because it increases the risk of manic episodes.

Availability in different countries.

In the United States and Canada, SAM is sold as a dietary supplement under the marketing name SAM-e (also spelled SAME or SAMe; pronounced "Sammy" ; it was introduced in the US in 1999, after the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act was passed in 1994.  It was introduced as a prescription drug in Italy in 1979, in Spain in 1985, and in Germany in 1989; as of 2012, it was marketed as a prescription drug in Russia, India, China, Italy, Germany, Vietnam, and Mexico.

S"-Adenosyl methionine is a common cosubstrate involved in methyl group transfers, transsulfuration, and aminopropylation. Although these anabolic reactions occur throughout the body, most SAM-e is produced and consumed in the liver. More than 40 methyl transfers from SAM-e are known, to various substrates such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and secondary metabolites. It is made from adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and methionine by methionine adenosyltransferase (EC 2.5.1.6). SAM-e was first discovered by Giulio Cantoni in 1952.

La "S"-adénosylméthionine, ou SAM, est un métabolite présent dans les cellules et qui est impliqué en premier lieu comme coenzyme dans les réactions de transfert de groupes méthyle (). Les voies métaboliques qui utilisent la SAM sont les voies de transméthylation, de et d'aminopropylation. Bien que ces réactions anaboliques se produisent dans tout l'organisme, l'essentiel de la SAM est produite et consommée dans le foie.


Geography and geology.

The Villars Cave is situated 3.5 kilometres to the northeast of Villars and about 500 metres to the north-northeast of the hamlet "Le Cluzeau". It can be accessed via the D 82 from Villars to Saint-Saud-Lacoussière; after a right-turn at "Le Cluzeau" one crosses the hamlet and reaches the ample parking area on a hill. The entry of the cave is at 170 metres above sea level, somewhat below the parking area along the left-hand slope of the little stream "Ruisseau de l'Étang Rompu", a left-hand tributary of the Trincou River. The cave was formed by karstic phenomena affecting the outcropping oolithic limestones of Upper Bajocian (Jurassic) age. On the other side of the valley arrives a southeast-trending fault which most likely disrupted the cohesion of the local strata and triggered the erosional shaping of the similar oriented cave system by carbon dioxide-laden waters during the Quaternary.

Discovery.

The Villars Cave was discovered in December 1953 by members of the "Spéléo Club de Périgueux" after their attention was drawn to a fox hole exuding steam. They enlarged the hole and thus found the entry to the enormous cave system. In 1956 the first scratch marks of cave bears were noticed along the entry passage. Yet the cave paintings were only recognized later in 1957 by Pierre Vidal, a member of the speleology club.  The art work was then investigated and approved of by the expert archeologist Henri Breuil. In 1959 the cave was opened for the first time to the public.  Besides Breuil further scientific investigations were carried out in 1958 by André Glory and François Bordes, who were followed in 1959 by André Leroi-Gourhan and by Brigitte and Gilles Delluc in 1970.

Description.

The show cave is about 600 metres long and consists of several rooms connected by passageways. The cave system not open to the public continues on different levels for nearly another 13 kilometres. The Villars Cave is therefore together with the Rouffignac Cave the most extensive cave system known in the Dordogne.  The not ornate part of the cave beginning right behind the entry excels in beautiful stalactites and stalagmites, pillars (i.e. coalesced stalactites and stalagmites), curtains and draperies of all sorts, wall coatings, so called "maccaronis" (thin, hollow stalactites) and large saucers (in French: "gours").  A steep stone staircase, not suitable for people in wheel-chairs, leads down to the new entry which is somewhat below and farther to the northwest then the original one. A 40-metre-long, south-southeast-striking "entry passage" (galerie d'accés) leads to the "crossing" (carrefour) where three different passageways diverge from. The branch on the right follows a southeasterly direction and is 130 meters long. It is a combination of rooms and passageways, which begins with the "salle de bénitiers" (holy water fonts room ), continues in the fairly narrow "le passage" (passage) and ends in the "grand balcon" (great balcony) with the "grand stalagmite" (big stalagmite). The "salle de bénitiers" also prolongs to the northwest into the "salle du chaos" (chaos room). The left branch leads to the northeast and north-northeast into the ornate part of the cave. It starts with the 10-metre-long "salle des cierges" (candle room) where the first paintings were noticed, followed by the 30-metre-long "salle des peintures" (painting room) with most of the art work. At its far northeastern end is the exit. The 50-metre-long middle branch leads just before the candle room also to the southeast. After the "salle des griffades" (scratch room) the passage swings into a south-southeasterly direction and therefore meets up again with the right-hand branch just before the great balcony.

Entry passage.

On the right hand side of the entry passage the scratch marks of cave bears can be seen. Also some painted dots and traits can be noticed either occurring individually or grouped in clusters.

Holy water fonts room.

This first room along the right-hand passageway can be reached right after the crossing via a descending slope. It contains besides very beautiful stalactites and stalagmites also two fairly big "saucers" which have given it its name.

Chaos room.

In the 30-metre-long and 15-metre-wide chaos room a partial collapse of the ceiling has happened so that big limestone blocks and slabs were covering the floor. Subsequently, the "chaos" was covered in fairly thick and massive calcite concretions. From the more elevated west end of the adjoining "salle des bénitiers" one has an impressive view of the room.

Candle room.

Along the left-hand branch the candle room - named after its beautiful stalagmites (candles) - also contains dots and traits but mainly features with some very nice art work like a 40 centimetre bison, the head of a horse and a bovine. The room ends in a very narrow passageway that was later enlarged to facilitate the entry to the painting room, which meant that some very beautiful concretionary deposits had to be sacrificed.

Painting room.

The painting room exhibits most of the art work. It is most famous for the "fresque de chevaux" (horse fresco), the "petit cheval bleu" (little blue horse) and the "l'homme et le bison" (man and bison). Yet it also contains exuberant and partially intergrown calcitic deposits.

Findings.

Altogether 30 paintings have been discovered, their size not exceeding 50 centimetres. The paintings were drawn in black manganese oxide bound by animal grease. Later on the paintings were naturally covered by a thin, milky calcite coating which renders the traits in blue (like the famous little blue horse of Villars). Yet at the same time the coating has protected the art work from external influences and the Villars Cave does not seem to have the problems that affected Lascaux. Besides the paintings some engravings are also present, as well as abstract female silhouettes, red dots painted with ochre and some very abstract geometrical signs like staffs, crosses and hooked symbols. The geometrical signs are very difficult to interpret.  Besides horses, bovines, bisons, capricorns and a deer head, a human figure attacked by a bison is depicted. The latter resembles a similar scene found in the well of Lascaux ("scene du puits").  Cro-Magnon man's presence has left a few traces like knocked over calcite concretions and broken stalagmites. Some lost or discarded utensils have also been found – to name silex flakes, bone fragments (mainly from reindeer), a reindeer antler and ochre and manganese oxide fragments for painting together with cup-shaped calcite deposits used as receptacles.

Age.

According to Leroi-Gourhan the art work can be attributed stylistically to the second period of his "style III" which correlates with the Older Magdalenian. This represents in absolute terms roughly 17,000 years BP.  Absolute age dating with the radiocarbon method was done by Michel Genty on a burnt tooth found in a fireplace below the "man and bison". He found a result of 18,000 years BP for the tooth.  The close stylistic resemblance of the "man and bison" scene with similar depictions in Lascaux and in Roc-de-Sers also indicates an age range of 18,000 to 17,000 years BP.

The Villars Cave, in French "Grotte de Villars" or "Grotte du Cluzeau", was occupied during the Lower Magdalenian by Cro-Magnon hunter-gatherers. The cave is part of the French commune of Villars in the northern Dordogne département. Besides its enormous wealth in beautiful stalactites, stalagmites and similar calcite deposits it contains cave paintings and some engravings. The Villars Cave and the Rouffignac Cave are the biggest known cave systems in the Dordogne.

La grotte de Villars, ou "grotte préhistorique du Cluzeau", fut découverte en 1953 sur le site dit "le Cluzeau", en bordure du ruisseau de l'Étang-Rompu, sur la commune de Villars, en Dordogne.