JOHAN VILHELM SNELLMAN & THE FINNISH LANGUAGE

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Johan Vilhelm Snellman, the philosopher and Finnish statesman, who suggested full rights are promised to the Finnish language by a language regulation in the Grand Duchy of Finland on a day like today in 1863.

Johan Vilhelm Snellman (12 May 1806-4 July 1881) was an influential Fennoman philosopher and Finnish statesman, ennobled in 1866. 

He was one of the most important awakeners or promoters of Finnish nationalism, alongside Elias Lönnrot and J. L. Runeberg.

Snellman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Kristian Henrik Snellman, a ship's captain. After the Russian conquest of Finland in 1808-09, and the promising establishment of the semi-autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, his family moved there in 1813, to the Ostrobothnian coastal town of Kokkola. His mother Maria Magdalena Snellman died there only a year later.

Snellman was educated at the Royal Academy of Turku from 1822, where he studied theology as well as history, Greek, Latin and world literature, as well as a little bit of physics and other natural sciences. While studying at the academy, Snellman also received permanent national romantic influences, but he differed from the romantics in that he was interested in the future and the spiritual activity of nations instead of history.

He settled in Helsinki in 1828 when the university was moved there, after the Great Fire of Turku earlier that year.

In 1835, after academic work amongst followers of Hegel, Snellman was appointed lecturer at the University of Helsinki, where he belonged to the famous circle of Cygnaeus, Lönnrot, and Runeberg comprising the brightest of their generation. Snellman's lectures quickly became popular with the students, but in November 1838 his lectureship was temporarily recalled after a judicial proceeding that ultimately aimed to establish firm governmental control of new and oppositional thought among the academics.

As a consequence, Snellman exiled himself to Sweden and Germany, more or less voluntarily, from 1839 to 1842. By the time he returned to Helsinki, his popularity had increased further, but the political juncture did not allow the university to employ him. Instead, he took up the position as headmaster for a school in distant Kuopio and published starkly polemical periodicals, including the paper Saima in Swedish, which advocated the duty of the educated classes to take up the language of the then circa 85% majority of Finns, and develop Finnish into a language of the civilized world, useful for academic works, fine arts, state craft, and nation building.

Saima was suppressed by the government in 1846. In 1848-49, Snellman was again rebuffed when applying for the position of professor at Finland's University in Helsinki. After having contemplated a renewed exile in Sweden, this time possibly definitive, Snellman in 1850 gave up the position in Kuopio and moved to Helsinki, where he and his family lived under economically awkward conditions until the death of Emperor Nicholas in 1855. Then it again became possible for Snellman to publish periodical papers on political issues.

He had married Johanna Lovisa Wennberg in 1845, and they had five children before her death in 1857.

In 1856, Snellman was finally appointed professor, which was met with great satisfaction among politically interested Finns. However, Snellman's unparalleled popularity could not remain. He was a generation older than the most active political opposition, and now backed a government which had the brightest expectations for Finland under the rule of Emperor Alexander II. The language strife in Finland, of which he was the chief initiator, contributed also to substantial opposition against him and his views. Finally and not least, his stance against the Polish rebels of the January Uprising of 1863 was seen by many as the ultimate sign of unprincipled ingratiation.

In 1863, Snellman was called to a cabinet post in the Senate of Finland, in effect as Chancellor of the Exchequer, where he became an energetic and valued senator. He accomplished a language decree from the Emperor that would gradually give Finns a position equal to that of the Swedish within the Finnish government. In practical terms it meant the re-establishment of the Parliament, which had remained inhibited since the Russian conquest.

A separate Finnish currency, the Markka, was introduced in 1860, and Snellman managed to tie it to silver instead of to the ruble. The Markka came to be of the utmost value for Finland. 

Snellman's tenure as Finance Minister would be tainted by the Finnish famine of 1866–1868, aggravated by the government's strict fiscal policy, but Snellman worked to get aid while trying to protect the new currency.

Snellman's inflexibility and high profile position in the political debate would however, together with his old reputation as radical agitator of the 1830s-1840s, accumulate too much resistance and aversion to his person and his policies. 

In 1868 he was forced to resign from the senate.

For the remainder of his life, he continued to participate in the political debate, and now ennobled he belonged to the Nobles' Chamber of the parliament. Snellman never lost his popularity among his Fennoman followers, but he had become a highly divisive symbol in Finland's political landscape. 

More information: Verbal Planet

I might move to Finland, at least for a while, 
to learn the language a bit better, 
'cause you don't learn any language better 
than in the country itself.

Floor Jansen

DEAN G. CAIN & 'THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN'

Today, The Grandma has been watching Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, the popular TV Series interpreted by Teri Hatcher as Lois and Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman. The popular actor was born on a day like today in 1966.

Dean George Cain (né Tanaka;July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent/Superman in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Cain was the host of Ripley's Believe It or Not! and appeared in the sports drama series Hit the Floor.

Dean George Tanaka was born on July 31, 1966, at Selfridge Air Force Base in Harrison Township, Michigan.

Cain attended Santa Monica High School, where he excelled in sports. Among his schoolmates were Charlie Sheen, who played on the same baseball team as Cain when they were children, as well as Rob Lowe and his brother, Chad.  

Cain graduated from high school in 1984 and attended Princeton University, where he starred as a free safety on the football team, set a Princeton season record with 12 interceptions (in just ten games) during the 1987 season, and finished his collegiate career with 22 interceptions in 30 games. During his senior year, Cain was awarded the John P. Poe-Richard W. Kazmaier, Jr. Football Trophy. He dated actress Brooke Shields while at the university.  

Cain graduated in 1988 with a bachelor of arts in history. His senior thesis was titled The History and Development of the Functions of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

After graduating, Cain signed on as a free agent with the NFL's Buffalo Bills, but a knee injury during training camp ended his football career prematurely.

With little hope of returning to sports, Cain turned to screenwriting and then acting, shooting dozens of commercials including a volleyball-themed spot for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and appearing on popular television shows like Grapevine, A Different World, and Beverly Hills, 90210.

In 1993, Cain took on his biggest role to date as Superman in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. At the height of its popularity the program brought in an average of at least 15 million viewers per episode. The series ran for four seasons, ending in 1997. 

Cain later made his first return to the Superman franchise with a special guest role in a season seven episode of Smallville as the immortal Dr. Curtis Knox, a character based upon the DC Comics villain Vandal Savage; Cain returned to the Superman universe again between 2015 and 2017, in a recurring role on Supergirl, as the title character's foster father, Jeremiah Danvers.

In 1998, Cain started the Angry Dragon Entertainment production company, which produced the TBS Superstation television series Ripley's Believe It or Not! He has also starred in several films, including The Broken Hearts Club (2000), Rat Race (2001), Out of Time (2003), and Bailey's Billion$ (2004). 

In 2004, he portrayed Scott Peterson in the made-for-television movie The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story. He appeared in a recurring role as Casey Manning in the television series Las Vegas. He is also the star of the VH1 hit series Hit the Floor as Pete Davenport, who is the new head coach of a fictional NBA team and has an illegitimate daughter who is a cheerleader for his NBA team.

In 2009, Cain was ranked No. 33 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s. Cain was a contestant in an NBC celebrity reality competition series called Stars Earn Stripes. He won four out of six missions on the show, though he came in third in the finals. In 2012, he participated in Fox's dating game show The Choice.

In 2013, Cain hosted a reality show about Bigfoot titled 10 Million Dollar Bigfoot Bounty, where he offered contestants $10 million to prove the existence of Bigfoot. Cain later appeared in the mid-season premiere of Comic Book Men, appearing at Kevin Smith's Secret Stash where the crew was celebrating 75 years of Superman, where it was claimed that his portrayal of the character helped people care about Superman again. 

Cain appeared in the film God's Not Dead, in which he plays an arrogant businessman. In 2016, Cain played a guest role on the Netflix original series Lady Dynamite as Graham the ex-fiancé of Maria Bamford.

Cain is known for appearing in 16 Christmas films and several faith-based films.

As of 2018, Cain is hosting a television infomercial for The National Real Estate Network, an entity which seeks to persuade individuals to attend meetings where they can learn about flipping real estate. 

In October 2018, it was learned that Ronnie Mund (Ronnie the Limo Driver), the personal driver and bodyguard of radio DJ Howard Stern, had been using a photoshopped picture of Cain as a publicity photo. Specifically, Mund's head had been transposed onto the body of Cain. Mund initially denied the photo was altered but eventually acknowledged he had been using the fraudulent photo for over five years. Mund claimed he was unaware the photo was not genuine.

Cain co-starred in the 2018 film Gosnell: The Trial of America's Biggest Serial Killer about the investigation and trial of Kermit Gosnell. He starred in the film Andy the Talking Hedgehog.

In 2019, Cain starred in the play FBI Lovebirds alongside Kristy Swanson, a play that mocked Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, two FBI agents who were briefly on the team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

In June 2021, it was announced that he would make his directorial debut with Little Angels and star in it.

Cain is the Actor in Residence at High Point University.

More information: Instagram-Dean Cain

The thing I liked most about 'Lois & Clark,' 
we were a fun show. 
Some of the later 'Superman' stuff is so dark, 
but I prefer 'Superman' to be 
a character of light and hope. 
I prefer the lighter romance and humor.

Dean Cain

1859, THE FIRST ASCENT OF GRAND COMBIN IN THE ALPS

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Grand Combin, the mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps, whose first ascent was reached on a day like today in 1859.

The Grand Combin is a mountain massif in the western Pennine Alps in the canton of Valais. At a height of 4,309 metres the summit of Combin de Grafeneire is one of the highest peaks in the Alps and the second most prominent of the Pennine Alps. The Grand Combin is also a large glaciated massif consisting of several summits, among which three are above 4000 metres (Combin de Grafeneire 4,309 m, Combin de Valsorey 4,184 m, Combin de la Tsessette 4,132 m). The highest part of the massif is wholly in Switzerland, although the border with Italy lies a few kilometres south.

The normal route starts from the Panossière Hut, which lies on the north side in the Corbassière valley. Despite the fact that no major difficulties exist, a particularly dangerous passage has to be traversed on the north flank: Le Corridor. It is a couloir dominated by seracs continuously falling on it.

The massif of the Grand Combin lies in Lower Valais, south of Verbier between the Val d'Entremont (west) and Val de Bagnes (west). The north-western facing side of Grand Combin is entirely covered by eternal snows and glaciers which are prone to serac falls. The southern and eastern walls are more steep and thus exempt of snow.

The topography of the Grand Combin is intricate. Between the Val d'Entremont and the Val de Bagnes are two high ridges, nearly parallel to each other and to those valleys, which both diverge from a short transverse ridge of great height. The southern end of the space enclosed between these three ridges is an elevated plateau of great extent, where the snows accumulate and feed the Corbassière Glacier which descends thence for about ten kilometers to the north. The glacier is surrounded by the peaks of Petit Combin, Combin de Corbassière and Combin de Boveire on the west, Grand Tavé and Tournelon Blanc on the east. Smaller glaciers lie on the external flanks such as Boveire and Mont Durand Glacier.

At the south-east extremity of the plateau, the highest part of the enclosing ridge is surmounted by two conical summits, of which the higher south-west point (Grand Combin de Grafeneire) is 4,309 metres in height, while the neighbouring north-east summit (Aiguille du Croissant) is lower by less than 4,260 metres. Two other minor summits over 4,000 metres are located on the ridge: the Grand Combin de Valsorey (4184 m) on the west and the Combin de la Tsessette (4132 m) on the east. On the west side, the plateau sinks to a considerably lower level, and over this lies the Col des Maisons Blanches (3,418 m), by which access to the Corbassiere valley is obtained from the side of the Val d'Entremont.

All the waters flowing on the region end up in the Dranse river and the Rhone. After Dom, Weisshorn, it is the highest massif of the Alps situated out of the main chain. South of the Grand Combin, the ridge separating the glaciers of Mont Durand and Sonadon reaches the Grande Tête de By a few kilometres away, which is located on the main watershed and border with the Italian region of Aosta Valley. The ridge diverges to the south-west and appears to be continuous with the range of the Aiguilles Vertes, or Aiguilles de Valsorey, and that of Mont Vélan. From this branches the lower range, which divides the channel of the Glacier du Mont Durand (north) from the Val d'Ollomont in the Aosta Valley (south), and extends by the Col de Fenêtre to the Mont Gelé.

The Grand Combin, which yields in height to only a few European mountains, was long one of the least known of Alpine summits. The first to commence the exploration of the great massif which separates the Val de Bagnes from the Val d'Entremont was Gottlieb Samuel Studer, of Berne, who on August 14, 1851 reached for the first time the summit of the Combin de Corbassière with the guide Joseph-Benjamin Fellay, and has published an account of that and a subsequent excursion in Bergund Gletscher-Fahrten. He was followed in that ascent five years later by W. and C. E. Mathews, and in 1857, William Mathews anticipated Studer in the ascent of the second peak of the Grand Combin.

The first four expeditions on Grand Combin reached only the minor summit east of Grand Combin (Aiguille du Croissant). The first one was made by mountain guides from the valley (Maurice Fellay and Jouvence Bruchez) on July 20, 1857.  

The first complete ascent of Grand Combin was finally made on July 30, 1859 by Charles Sainte-Claire Deville with Daniel, Emmanuel and Gaspard Balleys, and Basile Dorsaz.

The Grand Combin de Valsorey on the west was reached for the first time on 16 September 1872 by J. H. Isler and J. Gillioz. They climbed the south-west face above the Plateau du Couloir. The itinerary on the south-east ridge was opened on 10 September 1891 by O. Glynne Jones, A.Bovier and P. Gaspoz.

More information: The Fine Alpine Post

 There's no glory in climbing a mountain 
if all you want to do is to get to the top. 
It's experiencing the climb itself 
-in all its moments of revelation, heartbreak, and fatigue 
-that has to be the goal.

Karyn Kusama

THE FIRST HAGUE CONVENTION WAS SIGNED IN 1899

Today, The Grandma has read about The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, the two international peace conferences, the first of them was signed on a day like today in 1899. 

The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were among the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the body of secular international law. A third conference was planned for 1914 and later rescheduled for 1915, but it did not take place because of the start of World War I.

The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 were the first multilateral treaties that addressed the conduct of warfare and were largely based on the Lieber Code, which was signed and issued by US President Abraham Lincoln to the Union Forces of the United States on 24 April 1863, during the American Civil War.

The Lieber Code was the first official comprehensive codified law that set out regulations for behavior in times of martial law; protection of civilians and civilian property and punishment of transgression; deserters, prisoners of war, hostages, and pillaging; partisans; spies; truces and prisoner exchange; parole of former rebel troops; the conditions of any armistice, and respect for human life; assassination and murder of soldiers or citizens in hostile territory; and the status of individuals engaged in a state of civil war against the government.

As such, the code was widely regarded as the best summary of the first customary laws and customs of war in the 19th century. It was welcomed and adopted by military establishments of other nations.

The 1874 Brussels Declaration, which was never adopted by all major nations, listed 56 articles that drew inspiration from the Lieber Code. Much of the regulations in the Hague Conventions borrowed heavily from the Lieber Code.

The Hague Convention of 1899 was notably attended by the Korean Empire as an independent country, prior to its loss of independence in 1905 that prevented it from attending the Hague Convention of 1907.

Both conferences included negotiations concerning disarmament, the laws of war and war crimes. A major effort in both conferences was the creation of a binding international court for compulsory arbitration to settle international disputes, which was considered necessary to replace the institution of war.

This effort failed at both conferences. Instead, a voluntary forum for arbitration, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, was established. Most of the countries present, including the United States, Great Britain, Russia, France, China and Persia, favoured a process for binding international arbitration, but the provision was vetoed by a few countries, led by Germany.

The First Hague Conference came from a proposal on 24 August 1898 by Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Nicholas and Count Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov, his foreign minister, were instrumental in initiating the conference. The conference opened on 18 May 1899, the Tsar's birthday. The treaties, declarations, and final act of the conference were signed on 29 July of that year, and they entered into force on 4 September 1900.

The Second Hague Conference, in 1907, resulted in conventions containing only few major advancements from the 1899 Convention. However, the meeting of major powers did prefigure later 20th-century attempts at international cooperation.

The second conference was called at the suggestion of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. It was postponed because of the war between Russia and Japan. The Second Peace Conference was held from 15 June to 18 October 1907. The intent of the conference was to expand upon the 1899 Hague Convention by modifying some parts and adding new topics; in particular, the 1907 conference had an increased focus on naval warfare.

The British attempted to secure the limitation of armaments, but these efforts were defeated by the other powers, led by Germany, which feared a British attempt to stop the growth of the German fleet. As Britain had the world's largest navy, limits on naval expansion would preserve that dominant position. Germany also rejected proposals for compulsory arbitration. However, the conference did enlarge the machinery for voluntary arbitration and established conventions regulating the collection of debts, rules of war, and the rights and obligations of neutrals. 

More information: Peace Palace

I knew that the Hague Convention prohibited 
the use of poison in war. 
I didn't know the details of the terms of the Convention, 
but I did know of that prohibition.

Otto Hahn

1911, THE AUSTRALASIAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION BEGAN

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, that began on a day like today in 1911.

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911-1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest Shackleton's Nimrod expedition in 1907-1909.

During its time in Antarctica, the expedition's sledging parties covered around 4,180 kilometres of unexplored territory, while its ship, SY Aurora, navigated 2,900 kilometres of unmapped coastline. Scientific activities included meteorological measurements, magnetic observations, an expansive oceanographic program, and the collection of many biological and geological samples, including the discovery of the first meteorite found in Antarctica. 

The expedition was the first to establish and maintain wireless contact between Antarctica and Australia. Another planned innovation -the use of an aircraft- was thwarted by an accident before the expedition sailed. The plane's fuselage was adapted to form a motorised sledge or air-tractor, but it proved to be of very limited usefulness.

The expedition was organised into three bases: one on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island and two on the Antarctic mainland. The main base, under Mawson's command, was set up at Cape Denison, about 500 kilometres west of Cape Adare, and a western base under Frank Wild was established on the Shackleton Ice Shelf, more than 2,400 kilometres west of Cape Denison. Activities at both mainland bases were hampered by extreme winds, which often made outside work impossible.

The expedition was marred by the deaths of two members during an attempt to reach Oates Land: Belgrave Edward Ninnis, who fell into a crevasse, and Xavier Mertz, who died on the harrowing return journey. Mawson, their sledging partner, was then forced to make an arduous solo trek back to base; he missed the ship, and had to spend an extra year at Cape Denison, along with a relief party of six. This sojourn was made difficult by the mental breakdown of Sidney Jeffryes, the wireless operator. When Mawson returned from Antarctica, he was given a hero's welcome and received many honours, including a knighthood. The scientific studies provided copious, detailed data -which took thirty years to completely publish- and the expedition's broad exploration program laid the groundwork for Australia's later territorial claims in Antarctica.

More information: Australian Antarctic Program

On 28 July 1911, Aurora  -her deck teeming with the 48 dogs that had survived the trip from Greenland, laden with sledges and with more than 3,000 cases of stores on board- left London for Cardiff, where she loaded 500 tons of coal briquettes. She left Cardiff on 4 August, and arrived at Queens Wharf, Hobart, on 4 November, after a three-month voyage. In a flurry of activity, additional fuel, stores and equipment were taken aboard.  

Mawson chartered a steamer, SS Toroa, to carry part of the burden as far as Macquarie Island. After a series of farewell ceremonies and functions, Aurora was given a tumultuous dockside send-off from Hobart on 2 December.

The passage to Macquarie Island was rough: waves repeatedly overwhelmed the ship, half-drowning the dogs and soaking the men. Part of Aurora's bridge was washed away, and the cargo stored above deck suffered damage. The bad weather finally abated, and they reached Macquarie Island on 13 December, where they were joined by Toroa soon afterwards. When Ainsworth's party and its equipment were established on land, Toroa returned to Hobart, and on 24 December, after carrying out survey work, Aurora sailed on south.

Mawson's hopes of finding a suitable coastline to the west of Cape Adare were soon dashed. The coast remained hidden behind impenetrable ice, and the land reported by Wilkes in 1840 appeared to be non-existent. As the ship sailed further west, Mawson decided to reduce his land bases from three to two, by consolidating the proposed central base with the main base and placing Wild in charge of a single western base.

On 8 January 1912, rounding a large glacier, they sailed into a gulf which Mawson later named Commonwealth Bay, and on further exploration they discovered a long sheltered inlet which they dubbed Boat Harbour. Here, a reconnaissance party found a rocky spot at a location which they named Cape Denison, after Hugh Denison, one of the expedition's early sponsors, and Mawson decided to establish the main base there.

The work of unloading the ship, frequently interrupted by storms and winds, continued until 18 January. The next day, with time running short before the onset of winter, Aurora sailed away to find a suitable site for Wild's western base.

More information: The Guardian 

My Antarctic expedition is just about doable, 
just feasible and that's what is exciting to me. 
If I knew it was possible, 
if I knew I could do it without too much bother, 
I wouldn't be interested.

Ben Saunders

JAUME I, THE COUNT & KING OF CATALAN COUNTRIES

Today, The Grandma has been reading El Llibre dels fets, an amazing chronicle about Jaume I, one of the most important figures of European history who dies on a day like today in 1276.

James I the Conqueror, in Catalan Jaume el Conqueridor; in Aragonese Chaime I o Conqueridor, (2 February 1208-27 July 1276) was Count of Barcelona, King of Aragon, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and King of Valencia from 1238 to 1276.

His long reign of 62 years is not only the longest of any Iberian monarch, but one of the longest monarchical reigns in history, ahead of Hirohito but remaining behind Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Victoria, and Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies.

King James I saw the expansion of the Crown of Aragon in three directions: Languedoc to the north, the Balearic Islands to the southeast, and Valencia to the south. By a treaty with Louis IX of France, he achieved the renunciation of any possible claim of French suzerainty over the County of Barcelona and the other Catalan counties, while he renounced northward expansion and taking back the once Catalan territories in Occitania and vassal counties loyal to the County of Barcelona, lands that were lost by his father Peter II of Aragon in the Battle of Muret during the Albigensian Crusade and annexed by the Kingdom of France, and then decided to turn south.

His great part in the Reconquista was similar in Mediterranean Spain to that of his contemporary Ferdinand III of Castile in Andalusia. One of the main reasons for this formal renunciation of most of the once Catalan territories in Languedoc and Occitania, and any expansion into them, is that he was raised by the Knights Templar Crusaders, who had defeated his father, who was fighting for the Pope alongside the French. It was thus effectively forbidden for him to try to maintain the traditional influence of the Count of Barcelona that previously existed in Occitania and Languedoc.

As a legislator and organiser, he occupies a high place among the European kings. 

King James I compiled the Llibre del Consolat de Mar, which governed maritime trade and helped establish Aragonese supremacy in the western Mediterranean. He was an important figure in the development of the Catalan language, sponsoring Catalan literature and writing a quasi-autobiographical chronicle of his reign: the Llibre dels fets.

James was born at Montpellier as the only son of Peter II of Aragon and Marie of Montpellier. As a child, James was made a pawn in the power politics of Provence, where his father was engaged in struggles helping the Cathar heretics of Albi against the Albigensian Crusade led by Simon IV de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who were trying to exterminate them. Peter endeavoured to placate the northern Crusaders by arranging a marriage between his two-year-old son James and Simon's daughter, Amicie de Montfort.

He entrusted the boy to be educated in Montfort's care in 1211, but was soon forced to take up arms against him, dying at the Battle of Muret on 12 September 1213. Montfort would willingly have used James as a means of extending his own power had not the Aragonese appealed to Pope Innocent III, who insisted that Montfort surrender him. James was handed over to the papal legate Peter of Benevento at Carcassonne in May or June 1214.

James was then sent to Monzón, where he was entrusted to the care of Guillem de Montredó, the head of the Knights Templar in Aragon and Provence; the regency meanwhile fell to his great-uncle Sancho, Count of Roussillon, and his son, the king's cousin, Nuño. The kingdom was given over to confusion until, in 1217, the Templars and some of the more loyal nobles brought the young king to Zaragoza.

In 1221, he was married to Eleanor, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile. The next six years of his reign were full of rebellions on the part of the nobles. By the Peace of Alcalá of 31 March 1227, the nobles and the king came to terms.

In 1228, James faced the sternest opposition yet from a vassal. Guerau IV de Cabrera occupied the County of Urgell in opposition to Aurembiax, the heiress of Ermengol VIII, who had died without sons in 1208. Although Aurembiax's mother, Elvira, had made herself a protégée of James's father, upon her death in 1220 Guerau occupied the county and displaced Aurembiax, claiming that a woman could not inherit.

James intervened on behalf of Aurembiax, to whom he owed protection. He bought Guerau off and allowed Aurembiax to reclaim her territory, which she did at Lleida, probably also becoming one of James' earliest mistresses. She surrendered Lleida to James and agreed to hold Urgell in fief for him. On her death in 1231, James exchanged the Balearic Islands for Urgell with her widower, Peter of Portugal.

James built and consecrated the Cathedral of Lleida, which was constructed in a style transitional between Romanesque and Gothic with little influence from Moorish styles.

James was a patron of the University of Montpellier, which owed much of its development to his impetus. He also founded a studium at Valencia in 1245 and received privileges for it from Pope Innocent IV, but it did not develop as splendidly.

In 1263, James presided over a debate in Barcelona between the Jewish rabbi Nahmanides and Pablo Christiani, a prominent converso.

James was the first great sponsor and patron of vernacular Catalan literature. Indeed, he may himself be called the first of the Catalan prose writers. James wrote or dictated at various stages a chronicle of his own life in Catalan, Llibre dels fets, the first autobiography by a Christian king. As well as being a fine example of autobiography, the Book of Deeds expresses concepts of the power and purpose of monarchy, examples of loyalty and treachery in the feudal order, and medieval military tactics. 

James also wrote the Libre de la Saviesa or Book of Wisdom. The book contains proverbs from various authors, reaching from the time of King Solomon to nearly his own time with Albertus Magnus. It even contains maxims from the medieval Arab philosophers and from the Apophthegmata Philosophorum of Honein ben Ishak, which was probably translated at Barcelona during his reign. A Hebrew translator by the name of Jehuda was employed at James's court during this period.

Though James was himself a prose writer and sponsored mostly prose works, he had an appreciation of verse. In consequence of the Albigensian Crusade, many troubadours were forced to flee southern France and many found refuge in Aragon. Notwithstanding his early patronage of poetry, by the influence of his confessor Ramon de Penyafort, James brought the Inquisition into his realm in 1233 to prevent any vernacular translation of the Bible.

In 1276, the king fell very ill at Alzira and resigned his crown, intending to retire to the monastery of Poblet, but he died at Valencia on 27 July.

More information: 'Libre dels Feyts', Discovering a Catalan Chronicle

Certa cosa és que el nostre naixement se féu per vertut de Déu,
car no·s volien bé nostre pare ni nostra mare, e sí fo volentat de
Déu que nasquem en aquest món...

It is true that our birth was by the grace of God,
because the father and mother did not have a good relationship,
and yes, it was God's will that we come into this world...

Llibre dels Feyts/Book of Deeds 

THE SURREY IRON RAILWAY OPENS IN SOUTH LONDON

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the Surrey Iron Railway, the world's first public railway, that was opened in south London on a day like today in 1803.

The Surrey Iron Railway (SIR) was a horse-drawn narrow-gauge plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, in England. It was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened partly in 1802 and partly in 1803.

It was a toll railway on which carriers used horse traction. The chief goods transported were coal, building materials, lime, manure, corn and seeds.

The first 13.3 km to Croydon opened on 26 July 1803, with a branch line off from Mitcham to Hackbridge.

The 13.7 km long Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway was built as an extension of the railway but by a separate company. It opened in 1805 and closed in 1838.

The Surrey Iron Railway was commercially successful only briefly, until shortly after the opening of the canal between Croydon and London in 1809. It closed in 1846.

By the end of the eighteenth century, a number of short plateways, such as those to the Caldon Low quarries and the Little Eaton Gangway, had been built. Their purpose was to convey a mineral to a nearby canal for onward transport.

The original plan for a transport connection between Wandsworth, on the River Thames, and the industries of the Wandle Valley had been a canal scheme, put forward in 1799, but doubts about the availability of water led to the adoption of a plateway. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the world's first railway authorised by Parliament independently of a canal: that was the Middleton Railway (1758). Nor was it the first public railway or the first railway company: both of those honours go to the Lake Lock Rail Road near Wakefield, Yorkshire.

The Surrey Railways Act 1801 received royal assent on 21 May 1801, and work commenced immediately with William Jessop as engineer, George Leather as resident engineer, and joint contractor with Benjamin Outram. The line started at a wharf on the Thames at Wandsworth, and ascended gently through Tooting and Mitcham to Pitlake Mead in Croydon. There was a branch from near the site of the Mitcham Junction to oil-cake mills at Hackbridge, and a number of spurs to mills and works.

It was a public toll railway, providing a track for independent goods hauliers to use their own horses and wagons. The company did not operate its own trains. Sometimes it leased out the track and the dock, and sometimes it collected tolls and kept the line in repair itself.

From about 1836, James Lyon leased the tolls and could be hired to convey goods along the railway. There were toll or gate houses at Croydon, Wandsworth and Colliers Wood. According to the Mitcham Advertiser, the Colliers Wood gate house was still standing on 7 May 1956.

The 14.5 km route followed the shallow valley of the River Wandle, then heavily industrialised with numerous factories and mills, from the River Thames at Wandsworth southwards to Croydon, at what is now Reeves Corner. A short branch ran from Mitcham to Hackbridge and Carshalton.

The railway was extended by a separate company as the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway through Purley and Coulsdon to quarries near Merstham, opened in 1805 and closed in 1838.

The advent of faster and more powerful steam locomotives spelled the end for horse-drawn railways.

In 1823, William James, a shareholder in the railway, tried to persuade George Stephenson to supply a locomotive. Stephenson realised that the cast-iron plateway could not support the weight of a locomotive and declined. A steam railway arrived in Croydon with the opening of the London and Croydon Railway in 1839.

In 1844, the proprietors sold the railway to the L&SWR, which sold it to the London and Brighton Railway so that the L&BR could use the trackbed to extend from Croydon to Earlsfield and then join the L&SWR line into Nine Elms and eventually Waterloo. However, the sale did not proceed, and on 3 August 1846 the Surrey Iron Railway obtained an Act of Parliament authorising its closure, which took place on 31 August 1846. Part of the route was used for part of the West Croydon to Wimbledon Line, part of the LB&SCR from 1856, and some of the route is in use by London Tramlink: routes 3 & 4 between Wandle Park & Waddon Marsh, and route 3 at Mitcham.

The railway closed in 1838 when it was purchased by the London and Brighton Railway Company. The company ordered the rails to be taken up and were subsequently sold. Through Croydon, the old tramway became Tramway Road and was later renamed Church Road. 

More information: Railway Wonders Of The World

I just like being on my own on trains, travelling. 
I spent all my pocket money travelling 
the London Underground and Southern Railway, 
what used to be the Western region, 
and in Europe as much as I could afford it. 
My parents used to think I was going places, 
but I wasn't, I was just travelling the trains.

Tony Judt