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Binomial nomenclature

In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages. Such a name is called a binomial name (which may be shortened to just "binomial"), a binomen, binominal name, or a scientific name; more informally it is also historically called a Latin name. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), the system is also called binominal nomenclature, with an "n" before the "al" in "binominal", which is a typographic error, meaning "two-name naming system".

The first part of the name – the generic name – identifies the genus to which the species belongs, whereas the second part – the specific name or specific epithet – distinguishes the species within the genus. For example, modern humans belong to the genus Homo and within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. Tyrannosaurus rex is likely the most widely known binomial. The formal introduction of this system of naming species is credited to Carl Linnaeus, effectively beginning with his work Species Plantarum in 1753. But as early as 1622, Gaspard Bauhin introduced in his book Pinax theatri botanici (English, Illustrated exposition of plants) containing many names of genera that were later adopted by Linnaeus. Binomial nomenclature was introduced in order to provide succinct, relatively stable and verifiable names that could be used and understood internationally, unlike common names which are usually different in every language.

The application of binomial nomenclature is now governed by various internationally agreed codes of rules, of which the two most important are the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for animals and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp or ICN). Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are some differences in the terminology they use and their particular rules.

In modern usage, the first letter of the generic name is always capitalized in writing, while that of the specific epithet is not, even when derived from a proper noun such as the name of a person or place. Similarly, both parts are italicized in normal text (or underlined in handwriting). Thus the binomial name of the annual phlox (named after botanist Thomas Drummond) is now written as Phlox drummondii. Often, after a species name is introduced in a text, the generic name is abbreviated to the first letter in subsequent mentions (e.g., P. drummondii).

In scientific works, the authority for a binomial name is usually given, at least when it is first mentioned, and the year of publication may be specified.
 * In zoology
 * "Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758". The name "Linnaeus" tells the reader who published the name and description for this species; 1758 is the year the name and original description were published (in this case, in the 10th edition of the book Systema Naturae).
 * "Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758)". The original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica; the parentheses indicate that the species is now placed in a different genus. The ICZN does not require that the name of the person who changed the genus be given, nor the date on which the change was made, although nomenclatorial catalogs usually include such information.
 * In botany
 * "Amaranthus retroflexus L." – "L." is the standard abbreviation used for "Linnaeus".
 * "Hyacinthoides italica (L.) Rothm." – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica; Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides; the ICNafp does not require that the dates of either publication be specified.

Etymology
The name is composed of two word-forming elements: (Latin prefix meaning 'two') and nomial (the adjective form of nomen, Latin for 'name'). In Medieval Latin, the related word binomium was used to signify one term in a binomial expression in mathematics. In fact, the Latin word binomium may validly refer to either of the epithets in the binomial name, which can equally be referred to as a binomen (pl. binomina).

History

Prior to the adoption of the modern binomial system of naming species, a scientific name consisted of a generic name combined with a specific name that was from one to several words long. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature. These names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, and second, to be a diagnosis or description; however, these two goals were eventually found to be incompatible. In a simple genus, containing only two species, it was easy to tell them apart with a one-word genus and a one-word specific name; but as more species were discovered, the names necessarily became longer and unwieldy, for instance, Plantago foliis ovato-lanceolatus pubescentibus, spica cylindrica, scapo tereti ("plantain with pubescent ovate-lanceolate leaves, a cylindric spike and a terete scape"), which we know today as Plantago media.

Such "polynomial names" may sometimes look like binomials, but are significantly different. For example, Gerard's herbal (as amended by Johnson) describes various kinds of spiderwort: "The first is called Phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort; the second, Phalangium non ramosum, Unbranched Spiderwort. The other ... is aptly termed Phalangium Ephemerum Virginianum, Soon-Fading Spiderwort of Virginia". The Latin phrases are short descriptions, rather than identifying labels.

The Bauhins, in particular Caspar Bauhin (1560–1624), took some important steps towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of strictly binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). It was in Linnaeus's 1753 Species Plantarum that he began consistently using a one-word trivial name (nomen triviale) after a generic name (genus name) in a system of binomial nomenclature. Trivial names had already appeared in his Critica Botanica (1737) and Philosophia Botanica (1751). This trivial name is what is now known as a specific epithet (ICNafp) or specific name (ICZN). The Bauhins' genus names were retained in many of these, but the descriptive part was reduced to a single word.

Linnaeus's trivial names introduced an important new idea, namely that the function of a name could simply be to give a species a unique label. This meant that the name no longer needs to be descriptive; for example, both parts could be derived from the names of people. Thus Gerard's Phalangium ephemerum virginianum became Tradescantia virginiana, where the genus name honoured John Tradescant the Younger, an English botanist and gardener. A bird in the parrot family was named Psittacus alexandri, meaning "Alexander's parrot", after Alexander the Great, whose armies introduced eastern parakeets to Greece. Linnaeus's trivial names were much easier to remember and use than the parallel polynomial names and eventually replaced them.

Value
The value of the binomial nomenclature system derives primarily from its economy, its widespread use, and the uniqueness and stability of names that the Codes of Zoological and Botanical, Bacterial and Viral Nomenclature provide:
 * Economy. Compared to the polynomial system which it replaced, a binomial name is shorter and easier to remember. It corresponds to the noun-adjective form many vernacular names take to indicate a species within a group (for example, 'brown bear' to refer to a particular type of bear), as well as the widespread system of family name plus given name(s) used to name people in many cultures.
 * Widespread use. The binomial system of nomenclature is governed by international codes and is used by biologists worldwide. A few binomials have also entered common speech, such as Homo sapiens, E. coli, Boa constrictor, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Aloe vera.
 * Uniqueness. Provided that taxonomists agree as to the limits of a species, it can have only one name that is correct under the appropriate nomenclature code, generally the earliest published if two or more names are accidentally assigned to a species. This means the species a binomial name refers to can be clearly identified, as compared to the common names of species which are usually different in every language. However, establishing that two names actually refer to the same species and then determining which has priority can sometimes be difficult, particularly if the species was named by biologists from different countries. Therefore, a species may have more than one regularly used name; all but one of these names are "synonyms". Furthermore, within zoology or botany, each species name applies to only one species. If a name is used more than once, it is called a homonym.
 * Stability. Although stability is far from absolute, the procedures associated with establishing binomial names, such as the principle of priority, tend to favor stability. For example, when species are transferred between genera (as not uncommonly happens as a result of new knowledge), the second part of the binomial is kept the same (unless it becomes a homonym). Thus, there is disagreement among botanists as to whether the genera Chionodoxa and Scilla are sufficiently different for them to be kept separate. Those who keep them separate give the plant commonly grown in gardens in Europe the name Chionodoxa siehei; those who do not give it the name Scilla siehei. The siehei element is constant. Similarly, if what were previously thought to be two distinct species are demoted to a lower rank, such as subspecies, the second part of the binomial name is retained as a trinomen (the third part of the new name). Thus, the Tenerife robin may be treated as a different species from the European robin, in which case its name is Erithacus superbus, or as only a subspecies, in which case its name is Erithacus rubecula superbus. The superbus element of the name is constant, as are its authorship and year of publication.

Problems
Binomial nomenclature for species has the effect that when a species is moved from one genus to another, sometimes the specific name or epithet must be changed as well. This may happen because the specific name is already used in the new genus, or to agree in gender with the new genus if the specific epithet is an adjective modifying the genus name. Some biologists have argued for the combination of the genus name and specific epithet into a single unambiguous name, or for the use of uninomials (as used in nomenclature of ranks above species).

Because genus names are unique only within a nomenclature code, it is possible for homonyms (two or more species sharing the same genus name) to happen, and even the same binomial if they occur in different kingdoms. At least 1,258 instances of genus name duplication occur (mainly between zoology and botany).

Relationship to classification and taxonomy
Nomenclature (including binomial nomenclature) is not the same as classification, although the two are related. Classification is the ordering of items into groups based on similarities or differences; in biological classification, species are one of the kinds of item to be classified. In principle, the names given to species could be completely independent of their classification. This is not the case for binomial names, since the first part of a binomial is the name of the genus into which the species is placed. Above the rank of genus, binomial nomenclature and classification are partly independent; for example, a species retains its binomial name if it is moved from one family to another or from one order to another, unless it better fits a different genus in the same or different family, or it is split from its old genus and placed in a newly created genus. The independence is only partial since the names of families and other higher taxa are usually based on genera.

Taxonomy includes both nomenclature and classification. Its first stages (sometimes called "alpha taxonomy") are concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. Binomial nomenclature is thus an important part of taxonomy as it is the system by which species are named. Taxonomists are also concerned with classification, including its principles, procedures and rules.

Derivation of binomial names
A complete binomial name is always treated grammatically as if it were a phrase in the Latin language (hence the common use of the term "Latin name" for a binomial name). However, the two parts of a binomial name can each be derived from a number of sources, of which Latin is only one. These include:
 * Latin, from any period, whether classical, medieval or modern. Thus, both parts of the binomial name Homo sapiens are Latin words, meaning "wise" (sapiens) "human/man" (Homo).
 * Classical Greek. The genus Rhododendron was named by Linnaeus from the Greek word ῥοδόδενδρον, itself derived from rhodon, "rose", and dendron, "tree". Greek words are often converted to a Latinized form. Thus coca (the plant from which cocaine is obtained) has the name Erythroxylum coca. Erythroxylum is derived from the Greek words erythros, red, and xylon, wood. The Greek neuter ending -ον (-on) is often converted to the Latin neuter ending -um.
 * Other languages. The second part of the name Erythroxylum coca is derived from kuka, the name of the plant in Aymara and Quechua. Since many dinosaur fossils were found in Mongolia, their names often use Mongolian words, e.g. Tarchia from tarkhi, meaning "brain", or Saichania meaning "beautiful one".
 * Names of people (often naturalists or biologists). The name Magnolia campbellii commemorates two people: Pierre Magnol, a French botanist, and Archibald Campbell, a doctor in British India.
 * Names of places. The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is widespread in the United States.
 * Other sources. Some binomial names have been constructed from taxonomic anagrams or other re-orderings of existing names. Thus the name of the genus Muilla is derived by reversing the name Allium. Names may also be derived from jokes or puns. For example, Ratcliffe described a number of species of rhinoceros beetle, including Cyclocephala nodanotherwon.

The first part of the name, which identifies the genus, must be a word which can be treated as a Latin singular noun in the nominative case. It must be unique within the purview of each nomenclatural code, but can be repeated between them. Thus Huia recurvata is an extinct species of plant, found as fossils in Yunnan, China, whereas Huia masonii is a species of frog found in Java, Indonesia.

The second part of the name, which identifies the species within the genus, is also treated grammatically as a Latin word. It can have one of a number of forms:
 * The second part of a binomial may be an adjective. The adjective must agree with the genus name in gender. Latin has three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter, shown by varying endings to nouns and adjectives. The house sparrow has the binomial name Passer domesticus. Here domesticus ("domestic") simply means "associated with the house". The sacred bamboo is Nandina domestic a  rather than Nandina domestic us , since Nandina is feminine whereas Passer is masculine. The tropical fruit langsat is a product of the plant Lansium parasitic um , since Lansium is neuter. Some common endings for Latin adjectives in the three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) are -us, -a, -um (as in the previous example of domesticus); -is, -is, -e (e.g., tristis, meaning "sad"); and -or -or -us (e.g., minor, meaning "smaller"). For further information, see Latin declension: Adjectives.
 * The second part of a binomial may be a noun in the nominative case. An example is the binomial name of the lion, which is Panthera leo. Grammatically the noun is said to be in apposition to the genus name and the two nouns do not have to agree in gender; in this case, Panthera is feminine and leo is masculine.
 * The second part of a binomial may be a noun in the genitive (possessive) case. The genitive case is constructed in a number of ways in Latin, depending on the declension of the noun. Common endings for masculine and neuter nouns are -ii or -i in the singular and -orum in the plural, and for feminine nouns -ae in the singular and -arum in the plural. The noun may be part of a person's name, often the surname, as in the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsonii), the shrub Magnolia hodgsonii, or the olive-backed pipit (Anthus hodgsoni). The meaning is "of the person named", so Magnolia hodgsonii means "Hodgson's magnolia". The -ii or -i endings show that in each case Hodgson was a man (not the same one); had Hodgson been a woman, hodgsonae would have been used. The person commemorated in the binomial name is not usually (if ever) the person who created the name; for example, Anthus hodgsoni was named by Charles Wallace Richmond, in honour of Hodgson. Rather than a person, the noun may be related to a place, as with Latimeria chalumnae, meaning "of the Chalumna River". Another use of genitive nouns is in, for example, the name of the bacterium Escherichia coli, where coli means "of the colon". This formation is common in parasites, as in Xenos vesparum, where vesparum means "of the wasps", since Xenos vesparum is a parasite of wasps.

Whereas the first part of a binomial name must be unique within the purview of each nomenclatural code, the second part is quite commonly used in two or more genera (as is shown by examples of hodgsonii above). The full binomial name must be unique within each code.

Codes
From the early 19th century onwards it became ever more apparent that a body of rules was necessary to govern scientific names. In the course of time these became nomenclature codes. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) governs the naming of animals, the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp) that of plants (including cyanobacteria), and the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB) that of bacteria (including Archaea). Virus names are governed by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), a taxonomic code, which determines taxa as well as names. These codes differ in certain ways, e.g.: Unifying the different codes into a single code, the "BioCode", has been suggested, although implementation is not in sight. (There is also a published code for a different system of biotic nomenclature, which does not use ranks above species, but instead names clades. This is called PhyloCode.)
 * "Binomial nomenclature" is the correct term for botany, although it is also used by zoologists. Since 1961, "binomi n al nomenclature" is the technically correct term in zoology. A binomial name is also called a binomen (plural binomina) or binominal name.
 * Both codes consider the first part of the two-part name for a species to be the "generic name". In the zoological code (ICZN), the second part of the name is a "specific name". In the botanical code (ICNafp), it is a "specific epithet". Together, these two parts are referred to as a "species name" or "binomen" in the zoological code: or "species name", "binomial", or "binary combination" in the botanical code. "Species name" is the only term common to the two codes.
 * The ICNafp, the plant code, does not allow the two parts of a binomial name to be the same (such a name is called a tautonym), whereas the ICZN, the animal code, does. Thus the American bison has the binomen Bison bison; a name of this kind would not be allowed for a plant.
 * The starting points, the time from which these codes are in effect (retroactively), vary from group to group. In botany the starting point will often be in 1753 (the year Carl Linnaeus first published Species Plantarum). In zoology the starting point is 1758 (1 January 1758 is considered the date of the publication of Linnaeus's Systema Naturae, 10th Edition, and also Clerck's Aranei Svecici). Bacteriology started anew, with a starting point on 1 January 1980.

Differences in handling personal names
As noted above, there are some differences between the codes in how binomials can be formed; for example the ICZN allows both parts to be the same, while the ICNafp does not. Another difference is in how personal names are used in forming specific names or epithets. The ICNafp sets out precise rules by which a personal name is to be converted to a specific epithet. In particular, names ending in a consonant (but not "er") are treated as first being converted into Latin by adding "-ius" (for a man) or "-ia" (for a woman), and then being made genitive (i.e. meaning "of that person or persons"). This produces specific epithets like lecardii for Lecard (male), wilsoniae for Wilson (female), and brauniarum for the Braun sisters. By contrast, the ICZN does not require the intermediate creation of a Latin form of a personal name, allowing the genitive ending to be added directly to the personal name. This explains the difference between the names of the plant Magnolia hodgsonii and the bird Anthus hodgsoni. Furthermore, the ICNafp requires names not published in the form required by the code to be corrected to conform to it, whereas the ICZN is more protective of the form used by the original author.

Writing binomial names
By tradition, the binomial names of species are usually typeset in italics; for example, Homo sapiens. Generally, the binomial should be printed in a font style different from that used in the normal text; for example, "Several more Homo sapiens fossils were discovered." When handwritten, a binomial name should be underlined; for example, Homo sapiens.

The first part of the binomial, the genus name, is always written with an initial capital letter. Older sources, particularly botanical works published before the 1950s, used a different convention: if the second part of the name was derived from a proper noun, e.g., the name of a person or place, a capital letter was used. Thus, the modern form Berberis darwinii was written as Berberis Darwinii. A capital was also used when the name is formed by two nouns in apposition, e.g., Panthera Leo or Centaurea Cyanus. In current usage, the second part is never written with an initial capital.

When used with a common name, the scientific name often follows in parentheses, although this varies with publication. For example, "The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is decreasing in Europe."

The binomial name should generally be written in full. The exception to this is when several species from the same genus are being listed or discussed in the same paper or report, or the same species is mentioned repeatedly; in which case the genus is written in full when it is first used, but may then be abbreviated to an initial (and a period/full stop). For example, a list of members of the genus Canis might be written as "Canis lupus, C. aureus, C. simensis". In rare cases, this abbreviated form has spread to more general use; for example, the bacterium Escherichia coli is often referred to as just E. coli, and Tyrannosaurus rex is perhaps even better known simply as T. rex, these two both often appearing in this form in popular writing even where the full genus name has not already been given.

The abbreviation "sp." is used when the actual specific name cannot or need not be specified. The abbreviation "spp." (plural) indicates "several species". These abbreviations are not italicised (or underlined). For example: "Canis sp." means "an unspecified species of the genus Canis", while "Canis spp." means "two or more species of the genus Canis". (These abbreviations should not be confused with the abbreviations "ssp." (zoology) or "subsp." (botany), plurals "sspp." or "subspp.", referring to one or more subspecies. See trinomen (zoology) and infraspecific name.)

The abbreviation "cf." (i.e., confer in Latin) is used to compare individuals/taxa with known/described species. Conventions for use of the "cf." qualifier vary. In paleontology, it is typically used when the identification is not confirmed. For example, "Corvus cf. nasicus" was used to indicate "a fossil bird similar to the Cuban crow but not certainly identified as this species". In molecular systematics papers, "cf." may be used to indicate one or more undescribed species assumed to be related to a described species. For example, in a paper describing the phylogeny of small benthic freshwater fish called darters, five undescribed putative species (Ozark, Sheltowee, Wildcat, Ihiyo, and Mamequit darters), notable for brightly colored nuptial males with distinctive color patterns, were referred to as "Etheostoma cf. spectabile" because they had been viewed as related to, but distinct from, Etheostoma spectabile (orangethroat darter). This view was supported to varying degrees by DNA analysis. The somewhat informal use of taxa names with qualifying abbreviations is referred to as open nomenclature and it is not subject to strict usage codes.

In some contexts, the dagger symbol ("†") may be used before or after the binomial name to indicate that the species is extinct.

Authority
In scholarly texts, at least the first or main use of the binomial name is usually followed by the "authority" – a way of designating the scientist(s) who first published the name. The authority is written in slightly different ways in zoology and botany. For names governed by the ICZN the surname is usually written in full together with the date (normally only the year) of publication. One example of author citation of scientific name is: "Amabela Möschler, 1880." The ICZN recommends that the "original author and date of a name should be cited at least once in each work dealing with the taxon denoted by that name." For names governed by the ICNafp the name is generally reduced to a standard abbreviation and the date omitted. The International Plant Names Index maintains an approved list of botanical author abbreviations. Historically, abbreviations were used in zoology too.

When the original name is changed, e.g., the species is moved to a different genus, both codes use parentheses around the original authority; the ICNafp also requires the person who made the change to be given. In the ICNafp, the original name is then called the basionym. Some examples:
 * (Plant) Amaranthus retroflexus L. – "L." is the standard abbreviation for "Linnaeus"; the absence of parentheses shows that this is his original name.
 * (Plant) Hyacinthoides italica (L.) Rothm. – Linnaeus first named the Italian bluebell Scilla italica; that is the basionym. Rothmaler later transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides.
 * (Animal) Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) – the original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica; unlike the ICNafp, the ICZN does not require the name of the person who changed the genus (Mathurin Jacques Brisson ) to be given.

Other ranks
Binomial nomenclature, as described here, is a system for naming species. Implicitly, it includes a system for naming genera, since the first part of the name of the species is a genus name. In a classification system based on ranks, there are also ways of naming ranks above the level of genus and below the level of species. Ranks above genus (e.g., family, order, class) receive one-part names, which are conventionally not written in italics. Thus, the house sparrow, Passer domesticus, belongs to the family Passeridae. Family names are normally based on genus names, although the endings used differ between zoology and botany.

Ranks below species receive three-part names, conventionally written in italics like the names of species. There are significant differences between the ICZN and the ICNafp. In zoology, the only formal rank below species is subspecies and the name is written simply as three parts (a trinomen). Thus, one of the subspecies of the olive-backed pipit is Anthus hodgsoni berezowskii. Informally, in some circumstances, a form may be appended. For example Harmonia axyridis f. spectabilis is the harlequin ladybird in its black or melanic forms having four large orange or red spots. In botany, there are many ranks below species and although the name itself is written in three parts, a "connecting term" (not part of the name) is needed to show the rank. Thus, the American black elder is Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis; the white-flowered form of the ivy-leaved cyclamen is Cyclamen hederifolium f. albiflorum.

title: Binomial nomenclature


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Myles Coverdale

Myles Coverdale, first name also spelt Miles (1488 – 20 January 1569), was an English ecclesiastical reformer chiefly known as a Bible translator, preacher and, briefly, Bishop of Exeter (1551–1553). In 1535, Coverdale produced the first complete printed translation of the Bible into English. His theological development is a paradigm of the progress of the English Reformation from 1530 to 1552. By the time of his death, he had transitioned into an early Puritan, affiliated to Calvin, yet still advocating the teachings of Augustine.

Life to end of 1528
Regarding his probable birth county, Daniell cites John Bale, author of a sixteenth-century scriptorium, giving it as Yorkshire. His birth date is generally regarded as 1488.

Coverdale studied philosophy and theology at Cambridge, becoming bachelor of canon law in 1513. In 1514 John Underwood, a suffragan bishop and archdeacon of Norfolk, ordained him priest in Norwich. He entered the house of the Augustinian friars in Cambridge, where Robert Barnes had returned from Louvain to become its prior. This is thought to have been about 1520–1525. According to Trueman, Barnes returned to Cambridge in the early to mid-1520s. At Louvain Barnes had studied under Erasmus and had developed humanist sympathies. In Cambridge, he read aloud to his students from St. Paul's epistles in translation and taught from classical authors. This undoubtedly influenced them towards Reform. In February 1526, Coverdale was part of a group of friars that travelled from Cambridge to London to present the defence of their superior, after Barnes was summoned before Cardinal Wolsey. Barnes had been arrested as a heretic after being accused of preaching Lutheran views in the church of St Edward King and Martyr, Cambridge on Christmas Eve. Coverdale is said to have acted as Barnes' secretary during the trial. By the standards of the time, Barnes received relatively lenient treatment, being made to do public penance by carrying a faggot to St Paul's Cross. However on 10 June 1539, Parliament passed the Act of Six Articles, marking a turning point in the progress of radical protestantism. Barnes was burned at the stake on 30 July 1540, at Smithfield, along with two other reformers. Also executed that day were three Roman Catholics, who were hanged, drawn and quartered.

Coverdale probably met Thomas Cromwell some time before 1527. A letter survives showing that later, in 1531, he wrote to Cromwell, requesting his guidance on his behaviour and preaching; also stating his need for books. By Lent 1528, he had left the Augustinians and, wearing simple garments, was preaching in Essex against transubstantiation, the veneration of sacred images, and Confession to a Priest. At that date, such views were very dangerous, for the future course of the religious revolution that began during the reign of Henry VIII was as yet very uncertain. Reforms, both of the forms proposed by Lollardy, and those preached by Luther, were being pursued by a vigorous campaign against heresy. Consequently, towards the end of 1528, Coverdale fled from England to the Continent.

First exile, 1528
From 1528 to 1535 Coverdale spent most of his time in continental Europe, mainly in Antwerp. Celia Hughes believes that upon arriving there, he rendered considerable assistance to William Tyndale in his revisions and partial completion of his English versions of the Bible. In 1531, Tyndale spoke to Stephen Vaughan of his poverty and the hardships of exile, although he was relatively safe in the English House in Antwerp, where the inhabitants supposedly enjoyed diplomatic immunity. However, in the spring of 1535 a "debauched and villainous young Englishman wanting money" named Henry Phillips insinuated himself into Tyndale's trust. Phillips had gambled away money from his father and had fled abroad. He promised the authorities of the Holy Roman Emperor that he would betray Tyndale for cash. On the morning of 21 May 1535, having arranged for the imperial officers to be ready, Phillips tricked Tyndale into leaving the English House, whereupon he was immediately seized. Tyndale languished in prison throughout the remainder of 1535 and despite attempts to have him released, organised by Cromwell through Thomas Poyntz at the English House, Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake in October 1536. Meanwhile Coverdale continued his work alone to produce what became the first complete English Bible in print, namely the Coverdale Bible. Not yet proficient in Hebrew or Greek, he used Latin, English and German sources plus the translations of Tyndale himself.

Coverdale's translation of the Bible, 1535
In 1534 Canterbury Convocation petitioned Henry VIII that the whole Bible might be translated into English. Consequently, in 1535, Coverdale dedicated this complete Bible to the King. After much scholarly debate, it is now considered very probable that the place of printing of the Coverdale Bible was Antwerp. The printing was financed by Jacobus van Meteren. The printing of the first edition was finished on 4 October 1535. Coverdale based the text in part on Tyndale's translation of the New Testament (following Tyndale's November 1534 Antwerp edition) and of those books which were translated by Tyndale: the Pentateuch, and the Book of Jonah. Other Old Testament books he translated from the German of Luther and others. Based on Coverdale's translation of the Book of Psalms in his 1535 Bible, his later Psalter has remained in use in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer to the present day, and is retained with various minor corrections in the 1926 Irish Book of Common Prayer, the 1928 US Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, and the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer, etc.

Further translations, 1537–1539
In 1537 the Matthew Bible was printed, also in Antwerp, at the expense of Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch who issued it in London. It comprised Tyndale's Pentateuch; a version of Joshua 2 and Chronicles translated from the Hebrew, probably by Tyndale and not previously published; the remainder of the Old Testament from Coverdale; Tyndale's New Testament from 1535. It was dedicated to Henry VIII who licensed it for general reading. "Thomas Matthew", the supposed editor, was an alias for John Rogers.

The Matthew Bible was theologically controversial. Furthermore it bore evidence of its origin from Tyndale. If Henry VIII had become aware of this, the position of Cromwell and Cranmer would have been precarious. Consequently in 1538 Coverdale was sent to Paris by Cromwell to superintend the printing of the planned "Great Bible". François Regnault, who had supplied all English service books from 1519 to 1534, was selected as the printer because his typography was more sumptuous than that available in England. According to Kenyon, the assent of the French king was obtained. In May 1538 printing began. Nevertheless, a coalition of English bishops together with French theologians at the Sorbonne interfered with the operations and the Pope issued an edict that the English Bibles should be burned and the presses stopped. Some completed sheets were seized, but Coverdale rescued others, together with the type, transferring them to London. Ultimately, the work was completed in London by Grafton and Whitchurch.

Also in 1538, editions were published, both in Paris and in London, of a diglot (dual-language) New Testament. In this, Coverdale compared the Latin Vulgate text with his own English translation, in parallel columns on each page.

An injunction was issued by Cromwell in September 1538, strengthening an earlier one that had been issued but widely ignored in 1536. This second injunction firmly declared opposition to "pilgrimages, feigned relics, or images, or any such superstitions" whilst correspondingly placing heavy emphasis on scripture as "the very lively word of God". Coverdale’s Great Bible was now almost ready for circulation and the injunction called for the use of "one book of the whole Bible of the largest volume" in every English church. However at the time insufficient Great Bibles were actually printed in London so an edition of the Matthew Bible that had been re-edited by Coverdale started to be used. The laity were also intended to learn other core items of worship in English, including the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments.

In February 1539, Coverdale was in Newbury communicating with Thomas Cromwell. The printing of the London edition of the Great Bible was in progress. It was finally published in April of the same year. John Winchcombe, son of "Jack O'Newbury", a famous clothier, served as a confidential messenger to Coverdale who was performing an ecclesiastical visitation. Coverdale commended Winchcombe for his true heart towards the King's Highness and in 1540, Henry VIII granted to Winchcombe the manor of Bucklebury, a former demesne of Reading Abbey. Also from Newbury, Coverdale reported to Cromwell via Winchcombe about breaches in the king's laws against papism, sought out churches in the district where the sanctity of Becket was still maintained, and arranged to burn primers and other church books which had not been altered to match the king's proceedings.

Sometime between 1535 and 1540 (the exact dates being uncertain), separate printings were made of Coverdale's translations into English of the psalms. These first versions of his psalm renditions were based mainly or completely upon his translation of the Book of Psalms in the 1535 Coverdale Bible.

In the final years of the decade, the conservative clerics, led by Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, were rapidly recovering their power and influence, opposing Cromwell's policies. On 28 June 1539 the Act of Six Articles became law, ending official tolerance of religious reform. Cromwell was executed on 28 July 1540. This was close to the date of the burning of Coverdale's Augustinian mentor Robert Barnes. Cromwell had protected Coverdale since at least 1527 and the latter was obliged to seek refuge again.

Second exile, 1540–1547
In April 1540 there was a second edition of the Great Bible, this time with a prologue by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. For this reason, the Great Bible is sometimes known as Cranmer’s Bible although he had no part in its translation. According to Kenyon, there were seven editions in total, up until the end of 1541, with the later versions including some revisions.

Before leaving England, Coverdale married Elizabeth Macheson (d. 1565), a Scotswoman of noble family who had come to England with her sister and brother-in-law as religious exiles from Scotland. They went first to Strasbourg, where they remained for about three years. He translated books from Latin and German and wrote an important defence of Barnes. This is regarded as his most significant reforming statement apart from his Bible prefaces. He received the degree of DTh from Tübingen and visited Denmark, where he wrote reforming tracts. In Strasbourg he befriended Conrad Hubert, Martin Bucer's secretary and a preacher at the church of St Thomas. Hubert was a native of Bergzabern (now Bad Bergzabern) in the duchy of Palatine Zweibrücken. In September 1543, on the recommendation of Hubert, Coverdale became assistant minister in Bergzabern as well as schoolmaster in the town's grammar school. During this period, he opposed Martin Luther's attack on the Reformed view of the Lord's Supper. He also began to learn Hebrew, becoming competent in the language, as had been Tyndale.

Return to England, 1548
Edward VI (1547–53) was only 9 years old when he succeeded his father on 28 January 1547. For most of his reign he was being educated, whilst his uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, acted as Lord Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King's Person. Immediately upon receiving these appointments he became Duke of Somerset. Coverdale did not immediately return to England, although the prospects looked better for him. Religious policy followed that of the chief ministers and during Edward's reign this moved towards Protestantism. However in March 1548 he wrote to John Calvin that he was now returning, after eight years of exile for his faith. He was well received at the court of the new monarch. He became a royal chaplain in Windsor, and was appointed almoner to the queen dowager, Catherine Parr. At Parr's funeral in September 1548, Coverdale delivered what would later be said to have been his "1st Protestant sermon".

On 10 June 1549, the Prayer Book Rebellion broke out in Devon and Cornwall. There, Coverdale was directly involved in preaching and pacification attempts. Recognising the continuing unpopularity of the Book of Common Prayer in such areas, the Act of Uniformity had been introduced, making the Latin liturgical rites unlawful from Whitsunday 1549 onward. The west-country rebels complained that the new English liturgy was "but lyke a Christmas game" – men and women should form separate files to receive communion, reminding them of country dancing. The direct spark of rebellion occurred at Sampford Courtenay where, in attempting to enforce the orders, an altercation led to a death, with a proponent of the changes being run through with a pitchfork. Unrest was said also to have been fuelled by several years of increasing social dissatisfaction. Lord John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford was sent by the Lord Protector to put down the rapidly spreading rebellion and Coverdale accompanied him as chaplain. The Battle of Sampford Courtenay effectively ended the rebellion by the end of August. However Coverdale remained in Devon for several more months, helping to pacify the people and doing the work that properly belonged to the Bishop of Exeter. The incumbent, John Vesey, was eighty-six, and had not stirred from Sutton Coldfield in Warwickshire, his birthplace and long-term residence.

Bishop of Exeter, 1551
Coverdale spent Easter 1551 in Oxford with the Florentine-born Augustinian reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli. At that time, Martyr was Regius Professor of divinity, belonging to Magdalen College. He had been assisting Cranmer with a revision of the Anglican prayer book. Coverdale attended Martyr's lectures on the Epistle to the Romans and Martyr called him a "a good man who in former years acted as parish minister in Germany" who now "labours greatly in Devon in preaching and explaining the Scriptures". He predicted that Coverdale would become Bishop of Exeter and this took place on 14 August 1551 when John Vesey was ejected from his see.

Third exile, 1553–1559
Edward VI died of tuberculosis on 6 July 1553. Shortly before, he had attempted to deter a Roman Catholic revival by switching the succession from Mary daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon to Lady Jane Grey. However his settlement of the succession lasted barely a fortnight. After a brief struggle between the opposing factions, Mary was proclaimed Queen of England on 19 July. The renewed danger to reformers such as Coverdale was obvious. He was summoned almost immediately to appear before the Privy Council and on 1 September he was placed under house arrest in Exeter. On 18 September, he was ejected from his see and Vesey, now ninety and still in Warwickshire, was reinstated. Following an intervention by his brother-in-law, chaplain to King Christian III of Denmark-Norway, Coverdale and his wife were permitted to leave for that country. They then went on to Wesel, and finally back to Bergzabern.

On 24 October 1558, Coverdale received leave to settle in Geneva. Commenting on his contribution to the Geneva Bible (the exact details of which are scarce), Daniell says: "Although his Hebrew, and ... now his Greek, could not match the local scholars' skills, Coverdale would no doubt have special things to offer as one who nearly two dozen years before had first translated the whole Bible ... the only Englishman to have done so, and then revised it under royal authority for the successive editions of the Great Bible." On 29 November 1558 Coverdale was godfather to John Knox's son. On 16 December he became an elder of the English church in Geneva, and participated in a reconciling letter from its leaders to other English churches on the continent.

London, 1559–1569
In August 1559, Coverdale and his family returned to London, where they lodged with the Duchess of Suffolk, whom they had known at Wesel. He was appointed as preacher and tutor to her children. He wrote to William Cole in Geneva, saying that the duchess had "like us, the greatest abhorrence of the ceremonies" (meaning the increasing reversion to the use of vestments).

His stance on vestments was one of the reasons why he was not reinstated to his bishopric. However Hughes believes that it is likely that in his own opinion, he felt too elderly to undertake the responsibility properly. From 1564 to 1566, he was rector of St Magnus the Martyr in the City of London near London Bridge. Coverdale’s first wife, Elizabeth, died early in September 1565, and was buried in St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, on the 8th. On 7 April 1566 he married his second wife, Katherine, at the same church. After the summer of 1566, when he had resigned his last living at St Magnus, Coverdale became popular in early Puritan circles, because of his quiet but firm stance against ceremonies and elaborate clerical dress. Due to his opposition to official church practices, he died in poverty aged 80 or 81 on 20 January 1569, in London and was buried at St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange with a multitude of mourners present. When that church was demolished in 1840 to make way for the new Royal Exchange, his remains were moved to St Magnus, where there is a tablet in his memory on the east wall, close to the altar. Coverdale left no will and on 23 January 1569 letters of administration were granted to his second wife, Katherine. Daniell says that it appears that he has no living descendants.

Legacy
Coverdale's legacy has been far-reaching, especially that of his first complete English Bible of 1535. For the 400th anniversary of the Authorised King James Bible, in 2011, the Church of England issued a resolution, which was endorsed by the General Synod. Starting with the Coverdale Bible, the text included a brief description of the continuing significance of the Authorised King James Bible (1611) and its immediate antecedents:
 * The Coverdale Bible (1535)
 * The Matthew Bible (1537)
 * The Great Bible (1539)
 * The Geneva Bible (1557, the New Testament; 1560, the whole Bible)
 * The Bishops' Bible (1568)
 * The Rheims-Douai Bible (1582, the New Testament; 1609–1610, the whole Bible)
 * The Authorised King James Bible (1611)

As indicated above, Coverdale was involved with the first four of the above. He was partially responsible for Matthew's Bible. In addition to those mentioned above, he produced a diglot New Testament in 1538. He was extensively involved with editing and producing the Great Bible. He was also part of the group of "Geneva Exiles" who produced the Geneva Bible – the edition preferred, some ninety-five years later, by Oliver Cromwell's army and Parliamentarians. Coverdale's translation of the Psalms (based on Luther's version and the Latin Vulgate) have a particular importance in the history of the English Bible. His translation is still used in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. It is the most familiar translation for many in the Anglican Communion worldwide, particularly those in collegiate and cathedral churches. Many musical settings of the psalms also make use of the Coverdale translation. For example Coverdale's renderings are used in Handel's Messiah, based on the Prayer Book Psalter rather than the King James Bible version. His translation of the Roman Canon is still used in some Anglican and Anglican Use Roman Catholic churches. Less well known is Coverdale’s early involvement in hymn books. Celia Hughes believes that in the days of renewed biblical suppression after 1543, the most important work of Coverdale, apart from his principal Bible translation, was his Ghostly Psalms and Spiritual Songs. This she calls "the first English hymn book" and "the only one until the publication of the collection by Sternhold and Hopkins." (This was more than twenty years later). The undated print probably was done parallel to his Bible translation in 1535. Coverdale’s first three hymns are based on the Latin Veni Creator Spiritus, preceding its other English translations such as that of 1625 by Bishop J. Cosin by more than ninety years. However, the majority of the hymns are based on the Protestant hymnbooks from Germany, particularly Johann Walter's settings of Martin Luther's hymns such as Ein feste Burg. Coverdale intended his "godly songs" for "our young men ... and our women spinning at the wheels." Thus Hughes argues that he realised that for the less-privileged, his scriptural teaching could be learnt and retained more readily by song rather than by direct access to the Bible, which could often be prohibited. However, his hymnbook also ended up on the list of forbidden books in 1539, and only one complete copy of it survives which is today held in Queen's College, Oxford. Two fragments survived as binding material and are now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and in the Beinecke Library at Yale.

Coverdale is honoured, together with William Tyndale, with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 6 October. His extensive contacts with English and Continental Reformers was integral to the development of successive versions of the Bible in the English language.

Works

 * Remains of Myles Coverdale: Containing Prologues to the Translation of the Bible, Treatise on Death, Hope of the Faithful, Exhortation to the Carrying of Christ's Cross, Exposition Upon the Twenty-Second Psalm, Confutation of the Treatise of John Standish, Defence of a Certain Poor Christian Man, Letters, Ghostly Psalms and Spiritual Songs. (1846)
 * Writings and Translations of Myles Coverdale: The Old Faith, A Spiritual and Most Precious Pearl, Fruitful Lessons, A Treatise on the Lord's Supper, Order of the Church in Denmark, Abridgment of the Enchiridion of Erasmus (1844)
 * Memorials Of The Right Reverend Father In God Myles Coverdale, Sometime Lord Bishop Of Exeter; Who First Translated The Whole Bible Into English: Together With Divers Matters Relating To The Promulgation Of The Bible, In The Reign Of Henry The Eighth (1838)
 * The Letters Of The Martyrs: Collected And Published In 1564 With A Preface By Miles Coverdale (1838)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Myles Coverdale


text:
Kingdom

Kingdom commonly refers to:
 * A monarchic state or realm ruled by a king or queen.
 * A monarchic chiefdom, represented or governed by a king or queen.
 * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy

Kingdom may also refer to:

Television

 * Kingdom (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama starring Stephen Fry
 * Kingdom (American TV series), a 2014 US television drama starring Frank Grillo
 * Kingdom (South Korean TV series), a 2019 South Korean television series
 * Kingdom: Legendary War, a 2021 South Korean television series

Music

 * Kingdom (group), a South Korean boy band
 * Kingdom (Koda Kumi album), 2008
 * Kingdom (Bilal Hassani album), 2019
 * Kingdom (Covenant Worship album), 2014
 * Kingdoms (Life in Your Way album), 2011
 * Kingdoms (Broadway album), 2009
 * Kingdom (EP), a 1998 EP by Vader
 * "Kingdom" (Dave Gahan song), 2007
 * "Kingdom" (Maverick City Music and Kirk Franklin song), 2022
 * "Kingdom", a song by Battle Beast on their 2013 album Battle Beast
 * "Kingdom", a song by Bury Tomorrow on their 2012 album The Union of Crowns
 * "Kingdom", a song by Susumu Hirasawa on his 1995 album Sim City
 * "Kingdom", a song by Soulfly on their 2010 album Omen
 * "Kingdom", a song by Devin Townsend on his 2000 album Physicist and the 2012 Devin Townsend Project album Epicloud
 * "Kingdom", a song by Twelve Foot Ninja on their 2012 album Silent Machine
 * "Kingdom", a song by Wolf & Cub on their 2006 album Vessels

Other media

 * Kingdoms (board game), a board game by Reiner Knizia
 * Kingdom (comics), a comic series by Dan Abnett and Richard Elson published in the weekly 2000 AD
 * Kingdom (magazine), an American quarterly
 * Kingdom (manga), a 2006 Japanese manga
 * Kingdom (film), 2019 live action film based on the above
 * Kingdom (video game), a 2015 video game

People

 * Park Yong-Wook, also known as "Kingdom", a professional Korean StarCraft player
 * Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), English engineer
 * Johnny Kingdom (1939–2018), English wildlife filmmaker
 * Roger Kingdom, American hurdler

Other

 * Kingdom Holding Company, a Saudi investment company

title: Kingdom


text:
Confocal

In geometry, confocal means having the same foci: confocal conic sections.

 * For an optical cavity consisting of two mirrors, confocal means that they share their foci. If they are identical mirrors, their radius of curvature, Rmirror, equals L, where L is the distance between the mirrors.
 * In conic sections, it is said of two ellipses, two hyperbolas, or an ellipse and a hyperbola which share both foci with each other. If an ellipse and a hyperbola are confocal, they are perpendicular to each other.
 * In optics, it means that one focus or image point of one lens is the same as one focus of the next lens.

title: Confocal


text:
Szczerbiec

Szczerbiec is the ceremonial sword used in the coronations of most Polish monarchs from 1320 to 1764. It now is displayed in the treasure vault of the royal Wawel Castle in Kraków, as the only preserved part of the medieval Polish crown jewels. The sword is noted for its hilt, decorated with magical formulae, Christian symbols, and floral patterns, as well as for the narrow slit in the blade which holds a small shield with the coat of arms of Poland. The name of the sword, derived from the Polish word szczerba ("gap", "notch", or "chip") and wrongly its meaning is perceived as "the Notched Sword" or "the Jagged Sword" (which is included in the sword's legend), though the edges of its blade are straight and smooth. Proper meaning and rendering into English would be "the Notching/Jagging Sword" — as "a sword that is meant to notch/jag other weapons".

The legend links Szczerbiec with King Boleslaus I the Brave who was said to have chipped the sword by hitting it against the Golden Gate of Kiev during his intervention in the Kievan succession crisis in 1018. However, the Golden Gate was only constructed in 1037 and the sword is actually dated to the late 12th or 13th century. It was first used as a coronation sword by Ladislaus the Short in 1320. Looted by Prussian troops in 1795, it changed hands several times during the 19th century until it was purchased in 1884 for the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. The Soviet Union returned it to Poland in 1928 as part of war reparations for their loss against Poland in the Polish-Soviet war. During the Second World War, Szczerbiec was evacuated to Canada and did not return to Kraków until 1959. In the 20th century, an image of the sword was adopted as a symbol by Polish nationalist and far-right movements.

Description
Szczerbiec is a 98 cm ceremonial sword bearing rich Gothic ornamentation, dated to the mid-13th century. It is classified as a type XII sword with a type I pommel and a type 6 crossguard according to the Oakeshott typology, although the blade may have changed its shape due to centuries of corrosion and intensive cleaning before every coronation.

Hilt

The hilt consists of a round pommel, a flat grip and an arched crossguard. The grip is 10.1 cm long, 1.2 cm thick, and from 2 to 3 cm wide. It is rectangular in cross-section and its hard edges make it difficult to handle and impractical for fighting, which is indicative of the sword's purely ceremonial usage. The pommel is 4.5 cm in diameter and 2.6 cm thick, with a chamfered outer ring that is 1.3 cm wide. The crossguard forms an arch that is 1.8 cm wide in the middle and widens up to 3.4 cm at both ends. It is 1 cm thick near the grip and measures 20 cm in length along its upper edge.

The pommel and the crossguard are made of silver. The core of the grip is a brass chest encasing the tang of the blade. It was probably made in the 19th century to replace an original organic core, which had decomposed. At the same time the tang was riveted to the top of the pommel. The head of the rivet, which is 0.5 cm in diameter, rests atop a rectangular washer measuring 1.1 x.

All parts of the hilt are covered with golden plates, which are engraved with sharp or rounded styli and decorated with niello, or black metallic inlay that contrasts against the golden background. Each plate is 1 mm thick and made of about 18-carat gold. The niello designs include inscriptions written in late Romanesque majuscule (with some uncial additions), Christian symbols, and floral patterns. The floral ornaments are in negative, that is, golden against a black, nielloed background.

On the obverse side of the hilt, the pommel bears a large stylized letter T on top of a letter C or G (the latter could be just a decorative element of the letter T) between the Greek letters Α and ω (alpha and omega) surmounted with little crosses. Below the letter T, there is another cross placed within a cloud or flower with twelve petals. On the chamfered edge around this design runs a circular Latin inscription in two rings which reads: Rec figura talet ad amorem regum / et principum iras iudicum ("This sign rouses the love of kings and princes, the wrath of judges"). The grip bears the symbols of two of the Four Evangelists: the lion of Saint Mark and the ox of Saint Luke, as well as an Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). The crossguard bears the following Latin inscription: Quicumque hec / nomina Deii secum tu/lerit nullum periculum / ei omnino nocebit ("Whoever will carry these names of God with him, no danger will harm him").

The reverse side of the pommel is decorated with a vine bush surrounded by a wreath of vine leaves. On the reverse of the grip, there are the eagle of Saint John and the angel of Saint Matthew, and another Agnus Dei. The crossguard bears, above another pattern of vine leaves, an inscription in corrupted Hebrew in Latin script: Con citomon Eeve Sedalai Ebrebel ("Fervent faith incite the names of God: Sedalai and Ebrehel"). On the opposite ends of the crossguard, there are again the symbols of Saints John and Matthew.

The circumference of the pommel is decorated with a rhombic pattern, while the upper side of the crossguard – with a similar triangular pattern. The narrow sides of the grip used to be embellished with inscribed silver plates, which, however, were lost in the 19th century. These lost inscriptions are partly known from graphical documentation made by King Stanislaus Augustus's court painter, Johann Christoph Werner, in 1764 and by Jacek Przybylski in 1792. One of the plates had already been broken by that time with only part of the inscription preserved: Liste est glaud... h Bolezlai Duc... ("This is a sword of... Duke Boleslaus..."); the inscription on the other plate continued: Cum quo ei D[omi]n[us] SOS [Salvator Omnipotens Salvator] auxiletur ad[ver]sus partes amen ("With whom is the Omnipotent Lord and Savior, to help him against his enemies. Amen"). The missing part of the first inscription is only known from an old replica of Szczerbiec which once belonged to the Radziwiłł family (see Historical replicas below). The full inscription read: Iste est gladius Principis et haeredis Boleslai Ducis Poloniae et Masoviae, Lanciciae ("This is a sword of Hereditary Prince Boleslaus, Duke of Poland, Masovia, and Łęczyca"). The identity of this Duke Boleslaus is uncertain.

Use-wear analysis indicates that the plates on the pommel and the crossguard were made by the same artist, while the plates on the grip were added later. The latter – obverse and reverse – were probably decorated in the same workshop and using the same tools, but by two different craftsmen. Moreover, a side plate with a rhombic pattern was added in the 19th century to replace one of the lost inscribed side plates.

Preserved images of Szczerbiec from various points in time indicate that the decorative plates were several times dismounted and placed again on the hilt in variable configurations. The current composition, with the symbols of the Evangelists duplicated on each side of the hilt, matches that known from the earliest preserved depiction drafted by Johann Christoph Werner in 1794. It is possible, though, that the original placement of the golden plates was different, with the symbols of Saints John and Matthew on the obverse of the grip, so that each side of the hilt displayed the symbols of all four of the Evangelists.

Blade
The blade is 82 cm long, up to 5 cm wide (about 5 cm from the crossguard) and 3 mm thick. The fuller is about 74 cm long and, on average, 2 cm wide. Metallographic analysis has shown that the blade was forged from unevenly carburized semi-hard bloomery steel. Apart from iron, the material contains, by weight, 0.6 percent of carbon, 0.153 percent of silicon, 0.092 percent of phosphorus, and other elements. Numerous slag inclusions found in the steel are typical for medieval iron smelting technology. Part of the blade was hardened by quenching. Unlike the hilt, the blade would have been fully functional as a weapon of war. The surface of the blade is covered with deep scratches along its length, a result of intensive cleaning from rust before every coronation, probably with sand or brick powder. Inactive spots of corrosion may be also found on the entire surface.

Just below the hilt, there are three perforations in the fuller of the blade. The largest is a rectangular slot that is 64 mm long and 8.5 mm wide. This opening, known in Polish as szczyrba or szczerba, was originally caused by rust and, in the 19th century, polished into a regular shape. A small heraldic shield colored with oil paint is fastened to the slot. It is roughly triangular in shape, with the sides measuring from 4 to 4.5 cm. The shield, bearing the White Eagle of Poland, was originally attached to the scabbard, or sheath. The Gothic scabbard, with a golden or silver locket and chape, was probably created in 1320 and lost between 1819 and 1874. The shield is the only preserved element of the sheath. It was tilted to the left – from the onlooker's point of view – while it was fastened to the scabbard's locket, but today it is aligned with the blade. The eagle on the red field of the shield is white, with a golden crown, bands across the wings, ring on the tail, and talons. The two other perforations are round holes, 24 mm apart. The upper one, just below the slot, is 28 mm in diameter, while the other measures only 1.4 mm. They were probably punched in the 19th century to fasten the heraldic shield to the blade.

Location

Szczerbiec is owned by the Wawel Royal Castle National Art Collection (inventory number 137) in Kraków, the former capital city of Poland. As the only preserved of Polish medieval coronation insignia, it is a prominent part of the museum's Treasury and Armory permanent exhibition. The sword is suspended horizontally inside a glass case in the middle of the Jagiełło and Hedwig Vault located on the ground floor in the northeastern corner of the Wawel Castle.

The Szczerbiec of Boleslaus the Brave
Historical accounts related to the early history of the Polish coronation sword are scant and often mixed with legend. The earliest known use of the name "Szczerbiec" appeared in the Chronicle of Greater Poland at the turn of the 14th century. According to this source, the sword was given to King Boleslaus the Brave (reigned 992–1025) by an angel; Polish kings were supposed to always carry it in battle to triumph over their enemies. During Boleslaus's invasion of Kievan Rus', he hit it against the Golden Gate of Kyiv while capturing the city. It was the notch that appeared on the edge of the blade which gave the sword its name. This account, written three centuries after the events it describes, is implausible not only because of the customary reference to the sword's supernatural origin (compare Excalibur), but also because Boleslaus's intervention in the Kievan succession crisis took place in 1018, or about 19 years before the actual construction of the Golden Gate in 1037. It is plausible, though, that Boleslaus did chip his sword by striking it against an earlier gate in Kiev. His great-grandson, Boleslaus the Bold (r. 1058–1079), hit the Golden Gate with a sword in 1069, which would indicate that it was a customary gesture of gaining control over a city. It is also possible that this sword was preserved as a souvenir of past victories venerated by Boleslaus the Brave's successors. According to Wincenty Kadłubek's Chronicle, Boleslaus Wrymouth (r. 1107–1138) had a favorite sword he called Żuraw or Grus ("Crane"). A scribe who copied the chronicle in 1450 added the word Szczurbycz above the word Żuraw, but whether these two swords were one and the same is uncertain.

According to the Chronicle of Greater Poland, the sword was kept in the treasury of the Wawel Cathedral. The ultimate fate of the original Szczerbiec is unknown. It may have been taken to Prague, together with other royal insignia, by King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia after his coronation as king of Poland in Gniezno in 1300. What happened with these insignia thereafter remains a mystery. Although Boleslaus the Brave's notched sword has not been preserved and even its very existence is doubtful, its legend had a great impact on Polish historical memory and the treatment of its successor, the modern Szczerbiec.

From a sword of justice to a coronation sword
The sword currently known as Szczerbiec was forged and decorated in a style characteristic of the late 12th and 13th centuries, so it could not have belonged to any of the three great Boleslauses of the 11th and early 12th centuries. Additionally, it is a purely ceremonial sword which, unlike the original Szczerbiec, was never used in combat. It was originally used as a sword of justice (gladius iustitiae), or insignia of the sovereign's judicial power, by one of the many local dukes during Poland's Age of Fragmentation. A silver plate, now lost, on the sword's grip bore an inscription which indicated a duke by the name Boleslaus as its original owner. An inscription on the Radziwiłłs' replica of Szczerbiec, now also lost, could provide an additional hint as to the duke's identity: "Boleslaus, Duke of Poland, Masovia, and Łęczyca" – except that no duke of this name and titles ever existed. Historians have variously identified the duke in question as Boleslaus the Curly (r. 1146–1173), Boleslaus the Chaste (r. 1226–1279), Boleslaus I of Masovia (r. 1229–1248) or Boleslaus the Pious of Greater Poland (r. 1239–1247).

As a coronation sword, Szczerbiec was first specifically mentioned by Jan Długosz in his account of the crowning of King Casimir IV (r. 1447–1492), but it was probably first used in a coronation ceremony by King Ladislaus the Short (r. 1288–1333) in 1320, by which time he had reunited most of the core territories of Poland. If Szczerbiec had previously belonged to his uncle, Boleslaus I of Masovia, or his father-in-law, Boleslaus the Pious, then he could have inherited it. If it had belonged to any of the two Boleslauses who had ruled from Kraków as high dukes of all Poland, then Ladislaus could have simply found it in the Wawel Cathedral. Thereafter, Szczerbiec became an integral part of the Polish Crown Jewels, shared their fate, and was the principal ceremonial sword used in coronations of all Polish kings until 1764, except Jogaila (1386), Stephen Báthory (1576), Stanislaus I Leszczyński (1705), and Augustus III Wettin (1734).

Szczerbiec, together with other crown jewels, was removed from the Wawel Hill on several occasions during that period. After his Polish coronation in 1370, King Louis I of Hungary took the crown jewels with him to Buda; his successor on the Hungarian throne, Emperor Sigismund, rendered them to Poland in 1412. On two occasions, in mid-17th and early 18th centuries, they were evacuated across Poland's southern border to protect them from invading Swedish armies. In 1733, during the War of the Polish Succession, supporters of King Stanislaus I concealed the jewels in a Warsaw church for three years to prevent Augustus III from using them in his coronation. In 1764, they were sent to Warsaw again, to be used in a coronation for the last time – that of Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. They were returned to Kraków afterwards.

During a typical Polish coronation ceremony in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the king-elect received Szczerbiec after his anointment and before being crowned and enthroned. The primate of Poland, that is the archbishop of Gniezno, picked up the unsheathed sword from the altar and handed it to the kneeling king. At the same time, he recited a formula which asked the monarch to use the sword to rule justly, defend the Church, fight evil, protect widows and orphans, and to "rebuild what is damaged, maintain what is rebuilt, avenge what is unjust, reinforce what is well managed," etc. Then, the king handed the sword to the Crown sword-bearer (miecznik koronny), who slid it into the scabbard and passed on to the primate. The primate, aided by the Crown and Lithuanian sword-bearers, fastened the scabbard to the king's belt. The king stood up and, facing onlookers, withdrew Szczerbiec, made three times the sign of the cross with it, and wiped it against his left arm before replacing it in the scabbard. The king's sword-wielding abilities were closely watched by his new subjects during this part of the ritual. When Augustus III betrayed his poor fencing skills at his coronation, nobles joked that they were going to have "a peaceful lord". After Szczerbiec, a bishop handed the sovereign the Grunwald Swords symbolizing the monarch's reign over the two constituent nations of the Commonwealth.

Throughout the period from Casimir the Great (r. 1333–1370) to Stanislaus Augustus, Polish crown jewels were commonly believed to date back to the times of Boleslaus the Brave. This conviction helped maintain a sense of continuity of Polish statehood and provide legitimacy for the nation's kings, implicitly making each Polish monarch a successor of the ancient and glorious legacy of the first king of the House of Piast. Accordingly, the coronation sword took over the name and the legend of the original Szczerbiec. The corrosion-induced slit in the blade became associated with the fabled szczerba, or notch that Boleslaus had purportedly made on his sword in Kiev. The power of tradition was so strong that when Stanislaus Augustus's court painter, Marcello Bacciarelli, who had made detailed studies of Polish crown jewels, painted an imaginary portrait of Boleslaus the Brave, he chose to depict Szczerbiec so that its appearance agreed with legend rather than reality. The images of the coronation crown and sword are overall meticulously accurate, but Bacciarelli's Szczerbiec lacks the slit and has a chipped edge instead.

In foreign hands
In 1794, during the failed Kościuszko Uprising which led to the final partition of Poland a year later, Prussian troops captured Kraków. In the following year, on King Frederick William II's orders, the treasure vault of the Wawel Castle was looted and the crown jewels taken to Breslau (now Wrocław in Poland), then to Berlin, and finally to Königsberg (now Kaliningrad in Russia). Between 1809 and 1811 most of the jewels were melted down, but some, including Szczerbiec, were put up for sale. The coronation sword was acquired by the future Russian minister of justice, Prince Dmitry Lobanov-Rostovsky, who probably hoped to resell it to one of Polish aristocrats. In 1819, he approached General Wincenty Krasiński, speaker of the Sejm (parliament) of the "Congress" Kingdom of Poland. The prince did not disclose the actual source of the sword and claimed to have bought it in Moscow from an Armenian merchant who had found the weapon somewhere between Belgrade and Rusçuk (now Ruse in Bulgaria) during the recent Russo-Turkish War. Krasiński, who was a known antique weapon collector, suspected it could be Szczerbiec, but asked Prof. Sebastiano Ciampi, a historian of the Warsaw University, for opinion. Ciampi examined the lithography Krasiński had had made of the sword, but was unsure whether it was the actual Szczerbiec. As a consequence, Krasiński declined Lobanov-Rostovsky's offer.

Lobanov-Rostovsky ultimately sold Szczerbiec to Prince Anatoly Demidov, who kept it together with the rest of the Demidov collection in his Villa San Donato near Florence. In 1870, the sword was bought for 20,000 French francs by Alexander Basilevsky, Russian ambassador to France and great art collector. In 1878, he displayed Szczerbiec at the World's Fair in Paris. By that time, the scabbard had been lost and the sword itself was presented as of Teutonic origin. It was seen by several Polish visitors who speculated whether it could be the Polish coronation sword. In 1884, the entire Basilevsky collection was purchased by Emperor Alexander III of Russia for the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Both Polish and other experts at the time expressed doubts as to the authenticity of Szczerbiec held in Russia's largest museum (see Historical replicas below). An international museum congress held in Saint Petersburg in 1913 pronounced the sword a 17th-century replica.

In 1917, as a result of the October Revolution, Russia became a communist state. In the aftermath of World War I, Poland reemerged as an independent country in the following year. From 1919 to 1921, the two states fought the Polish–Soviet War which was concluded with the Peace of Riga. Article 11 of the peace treaty required that the Soviet side return all culturally significant collections and items that had been removed from Poland since the First Partition in 1772. A special bilateral committee was set up to carry out the restitution of cultural goods. In 1928, the committee's efforts resulted in the return to Poland of, among other national treasures, Szczerbiec, which, after 133 years, was deposited back in the Wawel Castle.

Evacuation in World War II
On 3 September 1939, two days after Germany invaded Poland triggering the Second World War, began the evacuation of the most precious national treasures, including Szczerbiec, from the Wawel Castle. The cargo was transported on barges, wagons, buses and trucks to Romania. From there, it was shipped by sea to France and later to Britain. On the way from Bordeaux to Falmouth, the ship carrying Polish national treasures came under fire from the Luftwaffe. Karol Estreicher, who oversaw the evacuation, decided then to remove Szczerbiec from a chest and sandwich it between two wooden planks, and to attach to them an explanatory message in a bottle – so that in the event that the ship was sunk, at least the coronation sword could be salvaged. When the German bombing of Britain began in July 1940, the valuables were transported aboard the Polish ocean liner MS Batory to Canada and finally deposited at the Polish consulate and then other locations in Ottawa. After the war, one of the custodians of the national treasures, who remained loyal to the London-based Polish government-in-exile, was reluctant to return them to Poland, which had fallen under communist rule and Soviet influence. After lengthy negotiations, the first batch of the most important objects, including Szczerbiec, was ultimately returned in 1959; the rest followed in 1961. Since then, the Polish coronation sword has been on permanent display in the treasure vault of the Wawel Castle.

Historical replicas
A treasury inventory of the Radziwiłł family's Nieśwież Castle (now Nesvizh in Belarus) made in 1740 includes a detailed description of a sword decorated with symbols of the Evangelists and inscriptions identical to those on Szczerbiec. According to the inventory, it was a gift from Crown Prince Jakub Sobieski to Prince Michał Radziwiłł, but the original source of the supposed replica was not given. An inventory made in 1738 of the treasure vault of the Sobieski family's Żółkiew Castle (now Zhovkva in Ukraine) mentions "an estoc (koncerz) covered with golden plates bearing images of the Four Evangelists; Skanderbek's." Based on this record, historian Aleksander Czołowski hypothesized that a replica of Szczerbiec was forged as early as 1457 and awarded to George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, the national leader of Albania, in recognition of his victory over the Ottoman forces (see Battle of Ujëbardha). After King John III Sobieski defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Vienna in 1683, Albanians presumably returned the sword to him. His son, Jakub, possibly passed it on to Michał Radziwiłł as a present.

There are doubts, however, whether the swords known to have been at Żółkiew in 1738 and at Nieśwież two years later, were in fact the same sword. The Radziwiłłs' castle was plundered by the Russian army in 1812 and the subsequent fate of their replica of Szczerbiec is unknown. This fact cast doubts over the authenticity of Szczerbiec held in the Hermitage. Some experts suspected that the sword possessed by the Russian imperial museum was in fact the Nieśwież replica, not part of the original royal insignia.

Another historically notable replica of Szczerbiec was produced probably in Dresden, Saxony, at the time when the original was in Prussian hands. It is modest and inexact; the handle is carved in bovine bone and the niello is imitated with black paint. Designs on the handle are patterned on those of the genuine Szczerbiec, except that the crosses and letters on the pommel were replaced with the coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The blade was initially shorter than that of the original, actually typical for a stiletto. It was purchased in Dresden by art historian Edward Rastawiecki, who in 1869 donated it to the archeological collection of the Jagiellonian University of Kraków. The university lost it during the German occupation in World War II. After the war, the replica found itself in the hands of Tadeusz Janowski who smuggled it to the United States in 1947. At around that time, the short stiletto blade was replaced with a long blade of a 16th-century German sword. To imitate Szczerbiec, a slit was cut in the blade and small heraldic shields were attached to it on both sides. During the communist rule in Poland, the Polish American community of Chicago treated the replica as a symbol of Poland's independence. In 1968, it was demonstrated to U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy while he was meeting with Polish Americans during his presidential campaign. Janowski returned the sword to the Jagiellonian University in 2003.

Modern symbolism

In the interwar period, a simplified image of Szczerbiec wrapped three times in a white-and-red ribbon was adopted as a symbol of Polish nationalist organizations led by Roman Dmowski – the Camp of Great Poland (Obóz Wielkiej Polski), the National Party (Stronnictwo Narodowe), and the All-Polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska). Their members wore it as a badge called Mieczyk Chrobrego, or "Little Sword of [Boleslaus] the Brave". The symbol was also sewn onto the left sleeve of the sand shirt which was part of the Camp of Great Poland uniform. Among the politicians who wore the badge before World War II were Roman Dmowski, Władysław Grabski, Wojciech Korfanty, Roman Rybarski, and Wojciech Jaruzelski. It was banned in 1938 during the "Sanation" period. During World War II, the badge was used by right-wing anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet military resistance groups, the National Armed Forces (Narodowe Siły Zbrojne) and the National Military Organization (Narodowa Organizacja Wojskowa). After the fall of communism in Poland, the Mieczyk Chrobrego symbol was readopted by new or reactivated nationalist and far-right organizations, including League of Polish Families (Liga Polskich Rodzin), All-Polish Youth and the Camp of Great Poland. Additionally, Szczerbiec is the title of a periodical published since 1991 by a minor radical nationalist party, the National Revival of Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski).

In 2005, the Polish Football Association, in an attempt to fight racism among Polish football fans, prepared a blacklist of most common racist and fascist symbols to be banned from Polish football stadiums. The catalog, co-authored by independent anti-fascist organization Never Again (Nigdy Więcej), listed the Mieczyk Chrobrego as one of the extreme right symbols that are often displayed at the Polish stadiums. The catalog listed other racist and fascist symbols like the Nazi swastika, the Celtic cross, and the Confederate Flag. After a protest by MEP Sylwester Chruszcz of the League of Polish Families, additional consultations were held with historians, academic researchers and other experts and as a result the symbol is still listed in the catalog of extreme-right symbols banned at Polish football stadiums. It was also banned by UEFA during Euro 2008 and 2012.

The symbolic use of Szczerbiec became a bone of contention again in 2009. After a monument to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrayins'ka Povstans'ka Armiya) on the Chryszczata Mountain in southeastern Poland was vandalized, authorities of the Ukrainian city of Lviv demanded the removal of an image of Szczerbiec from the local Polish military cemetery. The Ukrainians, recalling the legendary use of the original sword in a Polish invasion of Kiev, argued it was a Polish nationalist, militaristic and anti-Ukrainian symbol.

title: Szczerbiec


text:
Pilbara Iron

Pilbara Iron is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational Rio Tinto Group, that manages assets for Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Robe River Iron Associates, an unincorporated joint venture between Rio (53% and operator since 2000) and three Japanese steel companies Mitsui Iron Ore Development P/L (33%), Nippon Steel Australia P/L (10.5%) and Sumitomo Metal Australia P/L (3.5%).

All of these companies are involved in the mining of iron ore, predominantly from the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

In 2004, Rio Tinto announced that Robe and Hamersley would start merging operations under the new Pilbara Iron entity. The concept had been tested by the formation of Pilbara Rail in 2001, which generated more than $16 million in savings. Pilbara Rail was folded into Pilbara Iron in 2005. Each company continues to market products separately and retains ownership and profits from the underlying mines, as well as strategic development of their own mineral resources.

Current mine sites
Mine sites currently operating:
 * Brockman 4 mine (2010)
 * Mesa A mine (2010)
 * Hope Downs mine (2007)
 * Hope Downs 4 mine (2014)
 * Eastern Range mine (2004)
 * Nammuldi mine (2003)
 * West Angelas mine (2002)
 * Yandicoogina mine (1998)
 * Mesa J mine (1994)
 * Marandoo mine (1994)
 * Brockman mine (1992)
 * Channar mine (1990)
 * Paraburdoo mine (1972)
 * Mount Tom Price mine (1966)

All iron ore mined at the sites is transported on the Hamersley & Robe River railway, one of the world's largest privately owned railroads to either the port of Dampier, Western Australia or Cape Lambert near Wickham, Western Australia. From there the ore is shipped across the world, with China and Japan the largest markets as of 2007.

Historical events
July 1962: Hamersley Holdings Pty., Ltd. is organized to develop deposits in the Hamersley Range.

September 1962: Thomas Moore Price dies shortly after receiving news of the discovery of promising deposits at what would later be called Mount Tom Price.

August 1963, Hamersley Holdings Pty., Ltd., a subsidiary owned by Conzinc-Riotinto of Australia, Ltd. (60%) and the Kaiser Steel Corp. (40%), signed a 30-year agreement with the Western Australia Government for the development of iron ore leases held by the company and for the eventual establishment of an integrated iron and steel industry. The $175 million over 30 years program was established in anticipation of supplying iron ore to the Japanese steel industry.

February 1964: a proposal is announced for Hamersley Iron to export 65 million tons over 15 years starting in 1967 to the Japanese steel industry. Reserves estimated at 5 billion tons of 50% to 66% by Kaiser Steel. Ten involved Japanese steel works cited in the Iron Age article.

1964: Japanese firms sign contract to buy 5 million tons from the Western Mining Corporation for $69,000,000 with deliveries to start in 1966.

January 1965: Hamersley Iron signed a contract to sell over a 15 year period starting in 1966 65.5 million tons at a price of $600,000,000. A 176 mile railroad and a port at King Bay for ore carriers up to 100,000 tons was to be constructed. Mount Goldsworthy Mining Associated, Ltd. (joint venture of Cyprus Mines Corp of Los Angeles, Utah Construction & Mining Co. of San Francisco, Consolidated Gold Fields, Ltd. of London) signed a $164,000,000 contract for 16.5 million tons of Western Australia ore with Japanese buyers. Also a $60 million contract for pellets from Tasmania to Japan is signed at the time. Reported as a 82 million tons, $757 million over 17 year contract by International Commerce.

June 1965: Hamersley Iron agreed to sell 16 million tons of iron ore pellets to Japan at 1 million tons per year and planned to built a pelletizing plant at King Bay.

August 1965: Hamersley agreed to sell to Kobe Steel $15,750,000 worth of low grade iron ore from Mount Tom Price bringing the total in sales contracts to $825 million.

 * May 1967 – Hamersley Holdings Limited shares list on the ASX
 * May 1974 – Hamersley Europe Pty. Limited incorporated

In June 1979, Kaiser Steel sold its then 28.3% in Hamersley Holdings Ltd. to Conzinc Riotinto for $207.5 million, bringing the Rio Tinto share of the company to 54%.

Film Red Dog
The film Red Dog, based on stories about an actual wandering dog of the Pilbara region, was made at Hamersley Iron locations.

title: Pilbara Iron