text:
Talk:Infocom

List of titles
I think a complete list of all of Infocom's title would be too long, but dates with the ones listed would be nice. -Frecklefoot

 * When did I say that? What was I thinking?  A complete list is totally preferable. :-)   — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:55, Nov 17, 2004 (UTC)

Ballyhoo Date
On examining internet sources in general, some (e.g. Adventureland list Ballyhoo as being written in 1985, rather than 1986 as listed here. The majority of sources (that I found) DO say 1986, but can we verify that this information is correct somehow? --HappyDog 21:03, 24 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * According to there is only one version of Ballyhoo. The serial number is 851218 (probably meaning that the game "went gold" on 18th Dec 1985), but it also has a 1986 copyright date (I checked it). This probably means that the code was finished in 1985, but knowing that the game wouldn't be released until 1986 (with disk and box and goodies replication and all) they put the 86 date in the game already. Also, Ballyhoo is announced in the Winter 1986 edition of the Infocom newsletter, not earlier. 1986 seems to be correct. 22:37, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Gender in Infocom Games
Last I checked, this is an article about the history and impact of a computer software company specializing in games. As such, it relates the founding of the company, notable concepts and games introduced by the company, people who shaped the company, and the factors that led to its demise. Whether the protagonist of any given game or group of games was referred to as male or female does not in any way advance the "story" of Infocom that this article is relating to the reader. The information is irrelevant and does not belong. I challenge the anon who continues to add this to give a valid reason for including this information here or the continued adding of this section to the article must be considered vandalism. Indrian 13:25, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Please stop saying the "I" word! That thing is supposed to belong there, so that people can know what sex their character is! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.76.162.34 (talk • contribs).

 * Which has absolutely nothing to do with the importance of Infocom as a company or its games individually or collectively. You claim it is relevant but do not give a reason.  I see you have a history of vandalism and see this edit as being in the same vein. Indrian 03:23, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

 * I agree that 202.76.162.34's claim of relevance fails, I believe a reasonable claim can be made. The information on how Infocom handled the question of PC sex is potentially interesting to researchers.  Sex in video games is a constant topic.  At least one serious article  has considered how the issue is addressed in interactive fiction.  Someone doing research with the premise "the bias toward male players (as shown through male PCs) has been present in video games since their inception" would find such a list of value.
 * As for you 202.76.162.34, your edit history looks really bad, there is some clear vandalism there. Wikipedians are going to be rightfully skeptical of your claims with a history like that.  You've re-added this content 4 times in the span of 26 hours bringing you perilously close to the Three-revert rule.  Indrian asked you to take it to talk, but you did two more reversions before you came here.  Wikipedia works best when people communicate early and often; edit wars just frustrate everyone. Alan De Smet | Talk 23:35, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

 * I do not disagree with you that the issue of gender and video games has relevance, but I do think that giving the gender of the hero in every Infocom game is not useful to that topic. There is a quite simple reason why the bias in video games exist: historically both game designers and game players have been predominantly male resulting in a lack of serious effort by most companies to reach out to female gamers, particularly in the early years of the industry.  I will say, however, that the articles on the games themselves can certainly give the gender of the hero, as this is relevant to describing the game. The information is not bad, it just lacks relevance to Infocom as a company. Indrian 03:28, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

 * Maybe the article for each game in which the PC is female or selectable-gender should have a short note to that effect, if it doesn't already. But it doesn't make sense to place it in the company's main article. - DynSkeet * Talk 11:57, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Well, here's my real reason for adding that sex section. In, there are two false things. The first is that whoever wrote the page that this links to thinks that your character in the Enchanter trilogy and Zork Zero can be either sex, but in actuality, your character in those games is always male. To prove that your character in Zork Zero is always male, play Zork III (the Dungeon Master is the grown-up version of the character in Zork Zero). And to prove that your character in the Enchanter trilogy is always male, die in Enchanter (unless it's your fourth death), or go to the coal mine in Sorcerer (the old man there is your character's grown-up version). The second false thing is the way that guy spelt "Nord and Bert". It's "Nord and Bert", not "Nord and Burt". So to prove that guy wrong, I need that sex section! Well, actually, there are three reasons for adding the sex section. The third is that another title name is spelt wrong. "Hollywood Hijinx" is misspelled as "Hollywood Hijink"! And there's a possible fourth reason. That page says that Infocom made 33 games, when it actually made 35 (38 if you count Return to Zork, Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 and Quarterstaff as Infocom games). Since there are two games which that guy probably doesn't know about, any two games out of the 10 or so not mentioned could be the missing ones! P. S. In Nord and Bert, do you actually play as Nord and/or Bert? (This paragraph added by 58.170.197.216 (talk) in several edits from 02:14-02:35, August 2, 2006 without attribution.)

 * Please don't put things in articles just to prove some site wrong. Given the fact that anyone can edit any article at any time, it's rather silly to think that your point is conclusive "just because Wikipedia says so." If you have issues with the xyzzynews article, why not write the editor or the author and clear things up directly? And no, there aren't even any characters named Nord or Bert in the game Nord and Bert. - DynSkeet * Talk 12:23, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

 * 58.170.197.216, how do errors about the numbers and names of games have anything to do with the gender of characters in the game? That information is already quite appropriately present in Infocom's body.  Alan De Smet | Talk 22:46, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, it doesn't end there. Could you tell me what you have to say about all those reasons? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.181.139.197 (talk • contribs).

 * This is an almost six month old discussion. I believe most participants consider it closed. You're going to need to be more specific about what you'd like discussed, as "those reasons" above are largely addressed. A suggestion: if you're planning on continuing to join in these discussions, consider  creating an account.  It will make it easier to identify you.  Also, even if you don't get an account, be sure to sign your posts with ~ ; it helps people keep track of who is saying what. — Alan De Smet | Talk 02:13, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I'm going to sign now. Now please tell me, what do you have to say about my reasons for having the sex section? 124.181.200.175 04:59, 29 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I (and I suspect the other editors involved) believe all of the reasons listed above have been addressed. Thus my suggestion above that "you're going to need to be more specific about what you'd like discussed."  That another site may or may not have errors is completely irrelevant to the discussion. Wikipedia's job is not to fact check other sites.  — Alan De Smet | Talk 02:33, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Even if that is the case, I still need to know what you have to say about my reasons for having the sex section! You can clearly see what I mean! So could you please tell me now? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.181.200.175 (talk • contribs).
 * As far as I can tell, the "reasons" given amount to, "I need to prove that some other web site is wrong." That claim has been responded to repeatedly. "That another site may or may not have errors is completely irrelevant to the discussion.  Wikipedia's job is not to fact check other sites."   If that's not your reason, apparently I don't clearly see what you mean and you'll need to restate your reasoning, being more specific. — Alan De Smet | Talk 06:13, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I'll be more specific. I want to know what you have to say about those reasons. 124.181.200.175 00:11, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

I'll be more specific now. I want to know what you have to say about those reasons. Please tell me. 124.176.135.5 08:24, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Hello! Can you please answer? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.180.242.85 (talk • contribs).

 * Your questions have been answered repeatedly. You have not raised any new questions. — Alan De Smet | Talk 21:57, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

The reason sex is important in discussion of Infocom games is that, told from the second person, most of the games are gender-neutral, though some small clues may point to male in some. It is NOT true that the games were meant to be told from the male perspective, with some exceptions. It is also important to note that in "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" sex plays a vital role, so much so that you choose your sex when you begin playing, and situations differ for each sex. This would make one of the earliest games to give the player the choice to play male or female. This in itself is important enough to mention sexual roles in playing Infocom games. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.19.217.23 (talk) 20:05, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

 * Zork is most definitely not gender neutral! It is told - quite explicitly and exclusively - from a male perspective involving only male characters.

 * In the original MDL sources from 1977/12/16, (now available from MITDDC on GitHub) there are 9 instances of the word "him" (4 in both versions of act1, 1 in act3); 61 instances of the word "he" (25 in both versions of act1, 4 in act2, 1 in act3, 4 in defs and 2 in dung) and 64 instances of the word "his" (21 in both versions of act1, 5 in act2, 2 in act3, 1 in dung and 7 in both versions of rooms). There are no instances of any of the words "her", "she" or "hers" anywhere and no reference to anything or anyone being female.

 * In version 2.6A of the Fortran sources, from 1987/02/11, there are no instances of the words "she", "her" or "hers" and no references to anything or anyone being female. There are 44 instances of "him": 9 in the game messages & source code, 35 in the source code comments; 99 instances of "his": 88 in the game messages & source code, 11 in the source code comments; and 93 instances of "he" (other than the "help" command, "HE"): 64 in the game messages & source code and 29 in the source code comments.

 * Similar counts also apply to version 2.7A of the C source, from 1991/03/11 - which was translated from version 2.6B of the Fortran source (dated 1987/09/14) ... with only minor changes existing between versions 2.6A and 2.6B of the Fortran source, and almost all messages (and comments) from the Fortran version kept intact in the C version.

 * In versions 3.2A of the Fortran source, from 1994/10/01 (and version 3.2B from 1994/12/08), there are no instances of the words "she", "her" or "hers" and no references to anything or anyone being female. The game, itself, doesn't even recognize the words "her" or "hers"; only the words "him" and "his". In version 3.2B there are 46 instances of "him": 10 in the game messages & source code (including the one in the parser lexicon) and 36 in the comments; 104 instances of "his": 86 in the game messages & source code (including the one in the parser lexicon) and 18 in the comments; and 103 instances of "he": 76 in the game messages & source code, 27 in the source code comments. The same counts apply to version 3.2A.

 * In all versions, the adventurers and villians are explicitly referred to as male - both in the actual messaging output and in the comments in the source code ... and well as in adjoining documentation (i.e. the "walkthrough" files). And ... to underscore what others have said above in response: none of the issues relating to genders in its games belong in the main article - which is about the history of the company. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:6000:AA4D:C5B8:0:3361:EAF8:97B7 (talk) 00:20, 3 November 2021 (UTC)

yet another userbox
I hadn't seen anything of the like, so I created an Infocom userbox. It can be seen on my userpage. The code to include it on a userpage is: Feel free to use it. -DynSkeet (Talk) 19:58, 16 August 2006 (UTC)

Playing
Apart from xs4all, where on the Internet can I play Infocom games? And where can I found out how many copies each Infocom game sold? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.180.242.85 (talk • contribs).

Could you just give me an answer? 124.176.134.126 08:42, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

 * The playing of Infocom games on the Internet is mostly illegal. You can play The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy legally on Douglas Adams' website.  You can try buying Infocom games (bundles) from an Internet retailer like Amazon.com.  Also, this is not a message board, so don't be upset if no one answers your questions. — Frecklefoot | Talk 14:07, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Activision CEO
Is the Bruce Davis linked in the article the same on who lead Activision shortly after the Infocom takeover? His article lists him as a 1979 NFL draft pick who had an 11 season career. While it's not impossible it seems unlikley that a pro athlete would be a corporate executive at the same time. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 204.97.253.244 (talk • contribs).

 * Fixed. This Bruce Davis has no article... yet. — Frecklefoot | Talk 16:58, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

 * It's there now. Ntsimp 18:13, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Infocom logo.png
Image:Infocom logo.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 08:20, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
 * This has been promptly dealt with by User:Brian0918. — Alan De Smet | Talk 01:57, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Specific concerns about tone
The tone of this article needs fixing in places, including (but not limited to) the following examples:
 * Because of the clever use of hidden clues and Infocom's trademarked humor, the sale of InvisiClues proved incredibly lucrative - Unless this comment comes from a reviewer (it'll need a source), it should be rewritten as it's very business-like.
 * The heading Standing out from the competition. Possibly better as Reception.
 * The 2nd paragraph in Standing out from the competition describes how the player feels a lot, and says how the game's better than similar games.
 * users rarely felt like they were an intrusion or inconvenience. has no source and seems like more praise for Infocom.
 * ...and the Activision takeover should be renamed to Activision takeover.

These are a few of my concerns. The Standing out from the competition section needs to be rewritten almost completely in my opinion as that's where most of the tone and npov problems are. Also another hugely important thing is references and sources as this article is seriously lacking which makes it seem like the POV is coming from the editor rather than a reviewer or critic. Apologies for not leaving my concerns on this talk page sooner after I added the tag. ●BillPP (talk 13:34, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

 * The tone of the article was largly cleaned up. As such, the tag was moved to one specific section that still has one of the complaints listed (and even then, it's probably redundant due to the fact tag.) --Sigma 7 (talk) 19:13, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Sources for citations
For anyone else looking for possible sources for citations "Down From the Top of Its Game: The Story of Infocom, Inc." has three pages of references. — Alan De Smet | Talk 05:46, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

I asked one of the Implementors, Brian Moriarty, about this, especially the quote about the basement printing money. Here's what he said:

"What the article says is mostly true. For a few years, pretty much all of the titles generally made their money back the day they shipped.  Everything after that was gravy.  I don't know who, if anyone, said that quote, though."

Frotz 20:28, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Activision Takeover
In reference to following statement: "Davis pushed Infocom to release more graphical games, but the one they did release bombed. This was, in part, due to Infocom's long-standing rule of maximum portability; a game that could display graphics on a number of different systems couldn't take advantage of the strengths of any of them." - Rather than "the one they did release" could we have the actual title? Pieterkonink 11:14, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

 * It was Fooblitzky. I added the info to the article. — Frecklefσσt | Talk 12:58, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Legality of Infocom downloads
I have removed the second half of this sentence, from the article:

Many Infocom titles can be downloaded via the Internet, legally in the case of the Zork trilogy and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I do not believe that any of the Zork games or The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy are legally available to download, currently.

The first three Zork games were made available, along with the specially made Zork: The Undiscovered Underground as part of promotions surrounding the release of Zork: Nemesis (1996) and Zork Grand Inquisitor (1997). However, those promotions are long since over and Activision no longer distribute any of the games - the Zork Wikipedia page specifically claims that Activision has stated that they must NOT be re-distributed or made available for download.

Similarly, the The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy has never been explicitly available as a free download from Activision, The Digital Village (Douglas Adams' company) or Adams himself. The Digital Village did produce a Java applet version which is now permanently resident on douglasadams.com and requires them to host the original Z-Machine story file - which can be accessed if you craft the appropriate URL. This can hardly be considered legal permission to distribute, however as the game is clearly intended to be played online.

To make amends for removing this line, I've added some information relating to Dungeon, which is the original mainframe version of Zork and generally considered to be in the public domain and not considered to be explicitly illegal to download, along with the four Infocom sampler & demos available from the IF archive.

Samwiseuk (talk) 18:16, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

origin of "smellies" from Leather Goddesses
I have had email communications with a few of the Implementors. If I were to ask them where they got the idea for the scratch and sniff card in Leather Goddesses, would that be considered Original Research? Frotz (talk) 19:17, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

 * Yes. What we need is a verifiable reference.  For example, if one of the implementors said in a published interview that he got the idea for the S&S card from so-and-so, that would be fine.  Or if it were in a published book.  But a personal email communication—even if from the implementor himself—is not verifiable and, therefore, not permissible. HTH — Frecklefσσt | Talk 20:08, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

 * It's not really that personal correspondence is not verifiable (how can it possibly be contested? If the subject of the article wrote something to you, it's incontestable that they made the statement). It's that Wikipedia's central philosophy is "no original research."  This means that even if you got it directly from the mouth of the subject of the article (perfectly legitimate in the eyes of academia or any formal encyclopedia -- in fact, normally considered one of the very best sources in primary research), Wikipedia will not accept that as a legitimate source.  But if you found some blurb in some minor online fan site, then you're gold.  StrangeAttractor (talk) 00:30, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

 * How about doing an interview with an Implementor and publish it in a newsletter (like SPAG at http://www.sparkynet.com/spag/), or would someone else have to do it? Frotz (talk) 00:37, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

 * Well, I think anything you do outside of Wikipedia is fine. If it gets published, fine.  Then it can be used as a source.  But I disagree with StrangeAttractor on some points.  Minor online fan sites are not generally considered reliable sources of information.  I also disagree with his statement about personal correspondence.  Communicating directly with the subject of an article is original research and therefore prohibited, but it is also unverifiable, so it's not allowed on two counts.  To sum up, if something is published in a reputable publication (I don't know how reputable SPAG is), it can be used as a source.  HOWEVER, using your own article as a source for an article may cross into conflict of interest territory.  The best place to get answers to your questions is probably Village Pump: Policies and Help:Contents/Policies and guidelines.  HTH — Frecklefσσt | Talk 19:27, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

 * Aside from the issue of original research, I honestly, sincerely, do not understand how direct communication with the subject of an article is "unverifiable". If you interview someone IRL, by email, or on video, surely that is completely verifiable.  So it is NOT on "two counts" against Wikipedia policy, but only one (albeit a core one) -- original research.  And I stand by my snarky observation that you're more likely to get it in the article without Wikipedia Party Line objection by getting it published online in some minor forum or blog, as Wikipedia is de facto prejudiced towards online references because they are the low hanging fruit that any lazy obese pedant can easily check out without having to actually get out of his computer chair to walk to the goddamn university library. Most of the time online sources of any caliber will past muster, unless the article is about some controversial subject like Palestine vs. Israel or PC vs Mac or circumcised vs uncut (OR if you have the accidental misfortune to get some Stalinist editor on a particular article who insists that the text must conform to every Wikipedia guideline, even though the article is about some entirely obscure subject that roughly 800 people worldwide would care about.)

 * PS Frotz, are you someone who used to work for Infocom? I did also, as an in-house tester in 1987-88.  Would love to hear from you if so. StrangeAttractor (talk) 08:59, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

 * My username refers to the fact that I maintain the Unix version of Frotz, such as it is. I need to do some updates.  I have no personal connection with Infocom other than some email communication with one of the Implementors.  Incidentally, I did ask that person (Moriarty) about where smellies came from. He couldn't remember and so he asked Meretzky who also couldn't remember. Frotz (talk) 17:46, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

 * I'm not here to justify Wikipedia standards, just uphold them. If you have a problem with them, you can work to change them.  But this talk page isn't the place.  Peace. — Frεcklεfσσt | Talk 14:30, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Someone trying to renew the Infocom trademark?
It seems the Infocom story might not yet be over. According to http://www.trademork.com/infocom/ someone is trying to renew the trademark (Activision cancelled it in 2002, I believe). http://www.infocom-fiction.com/ is their site (not much there yet). A metatag on the site reads "The official site of (the all new) Infocom". Could get interesting. Sslaxx (talk) 12:14, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

 * The article says that the trademark was acquired by Bob Bates. I don't think that's correct. It says "Status 641 - Non-Final Action - Mailed" which, according to https://www.trademarkbank.com/statuses/641 means "Trademark Application Filed; Preliminary Refusal Issued". Perhaps more importantly, in http://steamcommunity.com/app/532980/discussions/0/1488861734108749074/ the user "bobbates" wrote that "I Applied for the inforcom trademark, but was blocked by another company.". English isn't my first language, so I don't really know how to write something intelligible about this... 213.65.60.100 (talk) 18:40, 12 October 2017 (UTC)

Grues
How do you get eaten by a Grue? Just curious. June 22, 1979 (talk) 22:08, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

 * If you spend too much time in the dark, you'll be eaten. Frotz (talk) 23:55, 16 January 2011 (UTC)
 * In some of the games, you will need to move around in the dark, not just wait there. Double sharp (talk) 08:44, 27 August 2021 (UTC)

Infocom website
Is this the official Infocom website? http://www.infocom-if.org/ --190.221.111.247 (talk) 01:29, 11 April 2012 (UTC)
 * No; try clicking on the disclaimer. It's just a fan site. Ntsimp (talk) 02:40, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

NPOV
The article seems biased, and the Activision takeover section seems especially biased; it sounds like someone who is just angry that Activision bought Infocom. As there are also no sources cited, it seems like that section should be re-written for a more neutral stance. 76.23.212.191 (talk) 09:59, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

 * Ditto, I think citations here are very much needed. Clements (talk) 13:37, 30 July 2023 (UTC)

Interactive fiction books
The article references choose-your-own-adventure style books produced by Infocom in the story lines of some of their games. This block has no references, and I don't believe it is accurate. Infocom released a number or regular novels (Wishbringer comes to mind) expanding on the universes/story lines of their games, but these were traditional, linear novels. Is there any reference to the type of novels mentioned in the article? I don't want to remove/change it without being sure. 67.79.182.218 (talk) 16:47, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
 * There really were 4 of these books. I have one of them. You can look them up on Amazon or anywhere. They are ISBN 0812579755, ISBN 0812579801, ISBN 0812579852, and ISBN 0812559894. Ntsimp (talk) 17:22, 8 January 2015 (UTC)
 * Oh, we already have an article on them: Zork books. Ntsimp (talk) 17:29, 8 January 2015 (UTC)

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Some acclaim for Infocom
I was doing some research for Infocom for the Legend Entertainment article. Figured it would be relevant here.

 * Multiple entries on this "7 works of interactive fiction that every developer should study" Gamasutra
 * "While there were many small companies that created text adventure games, the greatest of them all was Infocom." Ars Technica
 * "Infocom, the king of text adventure games"GameSpot
 * "Infocom’s games were considered top-of-class in what was once a very busy genre"Touch Arcade
 * "Infocom, the granddaddy of the genre" The Atlantic
 * "Infocom's glorious reign" Wired
 * "Ingenious programming and broad literary horizons brought (Infocom) ... explosive success" Boing Boing
 * "classic text adventures", plus additional acclaim for specific titles PC Games N
 * "classic adventure games", plus additional acclaim for specific titles Tech Raptor
 * "Infocom, a prominent producer of interactive fiction" Engadget

Some of these may or may not be reliable sources, but there's some good research in here somewhere. Shooterwalker (talk) 14:17, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Infocom


text:
Talk:1 decimetre

Purpose of page
What is the purpose of all this extra stuff, rather arbitry lengths? The definition should stay everything else should go. IMBlackMath (talk) 07:16, 15 September 2011 (UTC)

Eeyuw, what a plain lewd and eye-rottening notation... 1 E-1 m ... no one writes the scientific notation like that, not even bc :/

Euw... what a terrible collection of links. Swords, hobbits, Lilliputians. We should have at least some quantities that people are familiar with. I suggest we find out the lengths for: -- Tarquin 20:55 Jan 14, 2003 (UTC)
 * length or height of a cat
 * length of average human baby
 * average human handspan (I'm 25 cm, but I'm upper end)
 * I agree, those would good ones to add. To follow the form I'm evolving, we also need some Sports references, if possible... JesseW 17:28, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Some IMO redundant ones
As you may have gathered by now, if you've seen any of the other pages in this series I've worked on, if you violently disagree with any of my choices above, feel free to re-add them. JesseW 17:28, 15 July 2005 (UTC)
 * 15 cm — height of a Lilliputian from Gulliver's Travels
 * 89.0 cm — average adult height of a hobbit
 * Fictional characters are not relevent.
 * 50-65 cm — a pizote's tail
 * Part of not very well known animal?
 * 30.5 cm — 1 foot
 * 91.4 cm — 1 yard
 * If you rephrase them so they can go into the Conversions section, feel free.
 * 100 cm — 1 metre
 * Er, obvious, yes?

Apparent incorrectness
"90.0 cm — average length of a rapier, a fencing sword." The rapier article says 90 cm is the minimum length of a rapier blade.
 * Addendum: European dueling sword says "Rapiers ranged from 90 centimetres to 130 centimetres, averaging about 107 centimetres." All three values link to this page, which seems off… and also raises the question, what's the point of this page? -Ahruman 13:39, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Inconsistency
The image says "average human foot" is 28cm, but the list gives 29cm. 81.135.52.34 (talk) 15:22, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:1 decimetre


text:
Whitby

Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk. It has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. The fishing port emerged during the Middle Ages, supporting important herring and whaling fleets,  and was where Captain Cook learned seamanship and, coincidentally, where his first vessel to explore the southern ocean, HMS Endeavour, was built. Jet and alum were mined locally, and Whitby jet, which was mined by the Romans and Victorians, became fashionable during the 19th century.

The earliest record of a permanent settlement is in 656 AD, when as Streanæshealh it was the place where Oswy, the Christian king of Northumbria, founded the first abbey, under the abbess Hilda. The Synod of Whitby was held there in 664 AD. In 867 AD, Viking raiders destroyed the monastery. The town's East Cliff is home to the ruins of Whitby Abbey, where Cædmon, the earliest recognised English poet, lived. Another monastery was founded in 1078 AD. It was in this period that it gained its current name, Whitby (from "white settlement" in Old Norse). In the following centuries Whitby functioned as a fishing settlement until, in the 18th century, it developed as a port and centre for shipbuilding and whaling, the trade in locally mined alum, and the manufacture of Whitby jet jewellery. Tourism started in Whitby during the Georgian period and developed with the arrival of the railway in 1839.

Whitby's attraction as a tourist destination is enhanced by the nearby high ground of the North York Moors national park and the heritage coastline and by association with the horror novel Dracula. The abbey ruin at the top of the East Cliff is the town's oldest and most prominent landmark. Other significant features include the swing bridge, which crosses the River Esk and the harbour, which is sheltered by the grade II listed East and West piers. Its maritime heritage is commemorated by statues of the explorer Captain Cook and the whaler and scientist William Scoresby, as well as the whalebone arch that sits at the top of the West Cliff. It also has a strong literary tradition and has featured in literary works, television and cinema, most famously in Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.

While Whitby's cultural and historical heritage contribute to the local economy, it is financially constrained by its remote location, ongoing changes in the fishing industry, relatively underdeveloped transport infrastructure and limitations on available land and property. As a result, tourism and some forms of fishing remain the mainstay of its economy. It is the closest port to a proposed wind farm development in the North Sea, 47 mi from York and 22 mi from Middlesbrough. There are transport links to the rest of North Yorkshire and North East England, primarily through national rail links to Middlesbrough and road links to Teesside, via both the A171 and A174, and Scarborough by the former. As at 2011, the town had a population of 13,213.

Priests and harrying
Whitby was called Streanæshalc, Streneshalc, Streoneshalch, Streoneshalh, and Streunes-Alae in Lindissi in records of the 7th and 8th centuries. Prestebi, from Old Norse býr (village) and presta (of the priests), is an 11th-century name. Its name was recorded as Hwitebi and Witebi, from the Old Norse from hvítr (white) and býr (village), in the 12th century, Whitebi in the 13th century and Qwiteby in the 14th century.

A monastery was founded at Streanæshealh in 657 AD by King Oswiu or Oswy of Northumbria, as an act of thanksgiving, after defeating Penda, the pagan king of Mercia. At its foundation, the abbey was an Anglo-Saxon 'double monastery' for men and women. Its first abbess, the royal princess Hild, was later venerated as a saint. The abbey became a centre of learning, and here Cædmon the cowherd was "miraculously" transformed into an inspired poet whose poetry is an example of Anglo-Saxon literature. The abbey became the leading royal nunnery of the kingdom of Deira, and the burial-place of its royal family. The Synod of Whitby, in 664, established the Roman date of Easter in Northumbria at the expense of the Celtic one.

The monastery was destroyed between 867 and 870 in a series of raids by Vikings from Denmark under their leaders Ingwar and Ubba. Its site remained desolate for more than 200 years until after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. After the Conquest, the area was granted to William de Percy who, in 1078 donated land to found a Benedictine monastery dedicated to St Peter and St Hilda. William de Percy's gift included land for the monastery, the town and port of Whitby and St Mary's Church and dependent chapels at Fyling, Hawsker, Sneaton, Ugglebarnby, Dunsley, and Aislaby, five mills including Ruswarp, Hackness with two mills and two churches.

When the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, Whitby was recorded being partially waste and a small settlement lying within the Langbaurgh Wapentake of Yorkshire. Further details reveal the state of Whitby's economic and agricultural decline (when compared with its pre-Conquest state under Earl Siward) which were due to the depredations of William the Conqueror's army during the Harrying of the North in 1069-70.

In about 1128 Henry I granted the abbey burgage in Whitby and permission to hold a fair at the feast of St Hilda on 25 August. A second fair was held close to St Hilda's winter feast at Martinmas. Market rights were granted to the abbey and descended with the liberty.

Blubber, Cook and dissolution
Whitby Abbey surrendered in December 1539 when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. By 1540 the town had between 20 and 30 houses and a population of about 200. The burgesses, who had little independence under the abbey, tried to obtain self-government after the dissolution of the monasteries. The king ordered Letters Patent to be drawn up granting their requests, but it was not implemented. In 1550 the Liberty of Whitby Strand, except for Hackness, was granted to the Earl of Warwick who in 1551 conveyed it to Sir John York and his wife Anne who sold the lease to the Cholmleys. In the reign of Elizabeth I, Whitby was a small fishing port. In 1635 the owners of the liberty governed the port and town where 24 burgesses had the privilege of buying and selling goods brought in by sea. Burgage tenure continued until 1837, when by an Act of Parliament, government of the town was entrusted to a board of Improvement Commissioners, elected by the ratepayers.

At the end of the 16th century Thomas Chaloner visited alum works in the Papal States where he observed that the rock being processed was similar to that under his Guisborough estate. At that time alum was important for medicinal uses, in curing leather and for fixing dyed cloths and the Papal States and Spain maintained monopolies on its production and sale. Chaloner secretly brought workmen to develop the industry in Yorkshire, and alum was produced near Sandsend Ness 3 mi from Whitby in the reign of James I. Once the industry was established, imports were banned and although the methods in its production were laborious, England became self-sufficient. Whitby grew significantly as a port as a result of the alum trade and by importing coal from the Durham coalfield to process it.

Whitby grew in size and wealth, extending its activities to include shipbuilding using local oak timber. In 1790–91 Whitby built 11,754 tons of shipping, making it the third largest shipbuilder in England, after London and Newcastle. Taxes on imports entering the port raised money to improve and extend the town's twin piers, improving the harbour and permitting further increases in trade. In 1753 the first whaling ship set sail to Greenland and by 1795 Whitby had become a major whaling port. The most successful year was 1814 when eight ships caught 172 whales, and the whaler, the Resolution's catch produced 230 tons of oil. The carcases yielded 42 tons of whale bone used for 'stays' which were used in the corsetry trade until changes in fashion made them redundant. Blubber was boiled to produce oil for use in lamps in four oil houses on the harbourside. Oil was used for street lighting until the spread of gas lighting reduced demand and the Whitby Whale Oil and Gas Company changed into the Whitby Coal and Gas Company. As the market for whale products fell, catches became too small to be economic and by 1831 only one whaling ship, the Phoenix, remained. Whitby benefited from trade between the Newcastle coalfield and London, both by shipbuilding and supplying transport. In his youth the explorer James Cook learned his trade on colliers, shipping coal from the port. HMS Endeavour, the ship commanded by Cook on his voyage to Australia and New Zealand, was built in Whitby in 1764 by Tomas Fishburn as a coal carrier named Earl of Pembroke. She was bought by the Royal Navy 1768, refitted and renamed.

Whitby developed as a spa town in Georgian times when three chalybeate springs were in demand for their medicinal and tonic qualities. Visitors were attracted to the town leading to the building of "lodging-houses" and hotels, particularly on the West Cliff.

Rail and jet
In 1839, the Whitby and Pickering Railway connecting Whitby to Pickering and eventually to York was built, and played a part in the town's development as a tourism destination. George Hudson, who promoted the link to York, was responsible for the development of the Royal Crescent which was partly completed. For 12 years from 1847, Robert Stephenson, son of George Stephenson, engineer to the Whitby and Pickering Railway, was the Conservative MP for the town promoted by Hudson as a fellow protectionist. The black mineraloid jet, the compressed remains of ancestors of the monkey-puzzle tree, is found in the cliffs and on the moors and has been used since the Bronze Age to make beads. The Romans are known to have mined it in the area. In Victorian times jet was brought to Whitby by pack pony to be made into decorative items. It was at the peak of its popularity in the mid-19th century when it was favoured for mourning jewellery by Queen Victoria after the death of Prince Albert. The advent of iron ships in the late 19th century and the development of port facilities on the River Tees led to the decline of smaller Yorkshire harbours. The Monks-haven launched in 1871 was the last wooden ship built in Whitby, and a year later the harbour was silted up.

20th century
On 30 October 1914, the hospital ship Rohilla was sunk, hitting the rocks within sight of shore just off Whitby at Saltwick Bay. Of the 220 people on board, 74 died in the disaster.

In a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in December 1914, the town was shelled by the German battlecruisers Von der Tann and Derfflinger. In the final assault on the Yorkshire coast, the ships aimed their guns at the signal post on the end of the headland. Whitby Abbey sustained considerable damage in the attack, which lasted ten minutes. The German squadron responsible for the strike escaped despite attempts made by the Royal Navy. During the early 20th century the fishing fleet kept the harbour busy, and few cargo boats used the port. It was revitalised as a result of a strike at Hull docks in 1955, when six ships were diverted and unloaded their cargoes on the fish quay. Endeavour Wharf, near the railway station, was opened in 1964 by the local council. The number of vessels using the port in 1972 was 291, increased from 64 in 1964. Timber, paper and chemicals are imported, while exports include steel, furnace-bricks and doors. The port is owned and managed by Scarborough Borough Council since the Harbour Commissioners relinquished responsibility in 1905.

A marina was started in 1979 by dredging the upper harbour and laying pontoons. Light industry and car parks occupy the adjacent land. More pontoons were completed in 1991 and 1995. The Whitby Marina Facilities Centre was opened in June 2010.

Governance
By an Act of 1837 government of the town was entrusted to a board of Improvement Commissioners, elected by the ratepayers. A Local Board was formed in 1872, and lasted until Whitby Urban District Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1894. The townships of Whitby, Ruswarp and Hawsker-cum-Stainsacre were formed into a Parliamentary borough under the Reform Act of 1832 returning one member until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.

From 1974 to 2023 Whitby was administered as part of a two tier council system by Scarborough Borough Council, one of the seven district councils in North Yorkshire. For borough council purposes the town comprised three wards: Mayfield, Streonshalh and Whitby West Cliff. The borough council was a non-metropolitan district, responsible for housing, planning, leisure and recreation, waste collection, environmental health and revenue collection. Above the Borough council was North Yorkshire County Council, which was a non-metropolitan county providing education, transport, highways, fire, waste disposal, social and library services.

In April 2023 both councils were replaced by North Yorkshire Council along with all district councils in North Yorkshire. The unitary authority now provides all the services previously provided separately by the two councils.

At the lowest level of governance Whitby has a town council which, for election and administrative purposes, is divided into six electoral wards represented by 19 councillors responsible for burial grounds, allotments, play areas and street lighting. Elections to the town council are held every four years.

In the UK Parliament, the town is represented by Alison Hume of the Labour Party, who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Scarborough and Whitby constituency in 2024.

Religion
In the three wards that make up the Whitby district of North Yorkshire, out of a population of 13,596 there are 10,286 who stated that their religion was Christian in the 2001 UK census. There were 19 Muslims, 17 Buddhists, 12 Jews, 3 Sikhs and 499 people had no religious affiliations.

St Mary's Church is an ancient foundation, St Ninian's opened in Baxtergate in 1778 and St John's, also on Baxtergate, was consecrated in 1850. St Michael's was opened in 1856 and St Hilda's on the West Cliff was built in 1885. The Roman Catholic church dedicated to St Hilda was built in 1867 on Baxtergate. There are places of worship for nonconformists including a United Reformed Church; two Methodist chapels are no longer used. The Mission to Seafarers maintains a Christian ministry and has a chapel, reading room and recreational facilities.

The Bishop of Whitby is a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of York, in the Province of York. The town lies within the Central Vicariate of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough.

Geography
Whitby is situated on the east coast of Yorkshire facing the North Sea in a deep valley at the mouth of the River Esk. It has been a bridging point since at least medieval times and several bridges have spanned the river. The current bridge, built in 1908, is a swing bridge with a 75 ft span that separates the upper and lower harbours which have a total area of around 32.40 ha. The houses are built of brick or stone, often with red pantiled roofs, in narrow, steep streets, on both sides of the river.

The town is surrounded on its landward sides by the moorland of the North York Moors National Park and the North Sea abuts it on the seaward side. The coastal areas are designated part of the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast. The harbour and the mouth of the River Esk are on a geological fault. On the east side the cliff is tall, 187 ft, and consists of alternating layers of shale, sandstone and clay. On the west side the cliff is much lower and has a deep capping of boulder clay over a sandstone base making it less stable and liable to slippage. Both cliffs are being eroded quite rapidly.

Fossils and snakestones
The town is a coastal stretch known as the Dinosaur Coast or the Fossil Coast, the area is around 35 mi long and stretches from Staithes in the north and south to Flamborough. At Whitby dinosaur footprints are visible on the beach. The rock strata contain fossils and organic remains including jet. Fossils include the petrified bones of an almost complete crocodile and a specimen of plesiosaurus measuring 15 ft in length, and 8 ft in breadth was discovered in 1841. The Rotunda Museum in Scarborough has a comprehensive collection of fossils from the area.

Smaller fossils include numerous species of ammonites, or "snake stones", from the Whitby Mudstone Formation (Alum Shale Member) and at Whitby Scar nautiloids in the lower beds of the lias strata. The town's folklore (similar to Keynsham's in Somerset) has it that fossils were once living serpents that were common in the area. This was until the 7th century AD when Anglo-Saxon Abbess St Hilda of Whitby (614–680), first had to rid the region of snakes. She did so by casting a spell that turned them to stone and then threw them from the cliff tops.

Local collectors and dealers in fossils often carved heads on ammonites to increase curiosity value and improve sales. Since 1935, the Whitby Coat of Arms incorporates three snakestones due to this folklore. The Hildoceras genus of ammonite is named in St Hilda's honour.

Economy

Tourism supported by fishing is the mainstay of Whitby's economy in an isolated community with poor transport infrastructure and restricted by building constraints in the surrounding North York Moors National Park. The economy is governed by the changing fortunes of fishing, tourism and to some extent, manufacturing. Structural changes have led to concentrations of deprivation, unemployment and benefit dependence. A narrowing employment base and dependence on low wage and low skill sectors has resulted in younger age groups leaving the area. There are few business start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises. Older people who make increasing demands on the area's health and social care capacity have moved into the area. Demographic changes, Whitby's relative isolation from the region's main growth areas and decline in traditional employment sectors pose an economic challenge.

The town has a variety of self-catering accommodation, holiday cottages, caravans and campsites, and guest houses, inns, bed & breakfast establishments and hotels. The jet industry declined at the end of the 19th century, but eight shops sell jet jewellery, mainly as souvenirs to tourists. In 1996, Whitby West Cliff qualified for a 'Tidy Britain Group Seaside Award'. The town was awarded "Best Seaside Resort 2006", by Which? Holiday magazine.

The harbour has a total area of about 80 acre and is used by commercial, fishing and pleasure craft. Inshore fishing, particularly for crustaceans and line fish, takes place along the coast. Lobsters, brown and velvet crabs are important to the local fishery. From May to August, salmon is found in the Esk, and small open boats are licensed to net these off the harbour entrance. There are around 40 licensed angling party boats. The commercial catch is no longer herring but has been replaced by cod, haddock, and other fish caught within 12 mi of the coast. A fish market on the quayside operates as need arises. The ready supply of fresh fish has resulted in an abundance of "chippies" in the town, including the Magpie Cafe which Rick Stein has described as the best fish and chip shop in Britain. The Whitby Marina project, jointly funded by Scarborough Borough Council, Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund, was developed to diversify the local economy. The remaining shipbuilding firm, Parkol Marine, is a family-run business on the east side of the river. Founded in 1988, the boatyard has two berths for new build and a dry dock for repairs. St Hilda's Business Centre provides office space for a range of businesses. Whitby Business Park is a 20 ha site located by the A171 road, 2 mi from the harbour on the southern outskirts of the town. Companies on the park include Supreme Plastics, Whitby Seafoods Ltd and Botham's of Whitby alongside major retailers, Homebase and Sainsbury's.

The east coast has limited conventional energy generation capacity, but Whitby is the closest port to a proposed development on Dogger Bank, ideally placed to provide the offshore wind power industry with support vessel operations and logistics. The Dogger Bank wind farm could include up to 2,600 giant 400 ft turbines covering more than 3300 mi2.

Water
Whitby is on the River Esk and has a port used for shipping to Europe, especially Scandinavia, and it mainly handles grain, steel products, timber and potash cargo. Vessels limited to 3,000 tonnes deadweight tonnage can dock at the wharf, which is able to load or unload two ships simultaneously. , 54000 sqft of dock space is used to store all-weather cargo, with a 17000 sqft warehouse.

Land
Rail

The town is served by Whitby railway station which is the terminus of the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough, operated by Northern. It was formerly the northern terminus of the Whitby, Pickering and York Line. In 2007, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway began a summer service between Pickering and Whitby operated by steam locomotives, as an extension of their long-standing Pickering-Grosmont service. The Scarborough and Whitby Railway, which follows a scenic route along the coast, was built in 1885; it required construction of the red brick Larpool Viaduct across the Esk Valley into Whitby. The line closed as a result of the Beeching axe in 1965; the trackbed is now used as a footpath, bridleway and by cyclists. The Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway had a station at Whitby West Cliff and ran close to the cliffs to the north of the town. It opened in 1883 and closed in 1958.

Road

Whitby is situated on the A171 road from Scarborough to Guisborough, which originally passed over the swing bridge. A high level bridge over the Esk Valley was built in 1980 to avoid the bridge and ease congestion in the town centre. The A174 accesses coastal towns to the north and the A169 crosses the moors to Pickering. Whitby is served by the Yorkshire Coastliner bus line, operating from Leeds, Tadcaster, York, Scarborough, Bridlington, Pickering and Malton, with connections beyond Yorkshire. In 2018, this was voted Britain's most scenic bus route. Arriva North East runs bus services connecting Whitby to Scarborough and Middlesbrough.

Walking The coastal section of the 110 mi Cleveland Way National Trail passes through Whitby.

Air
The nearest airport, about 45 mi from Whitby, is Teesside International Airport, which has a regular service from Amsterdam, Schiphol airport.

Public services
A wide range of health care services is provided by Whitby Community Hospital, formerly run by the Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health Care NHS Trust and now by the Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust. In February 2018 it was agreed to redevelop the hospital site at a cost of £12 million into a "health and wellbeing hub" with an urgent care centre and 19 inpatient beds.

There are five general practitioners and five dentists in the area. Yorkshire Ambulance Service provides hospital transport throughout Yorkshire.

Whitby fire station, run by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, is crewed between 8 am and 6 pm. The town's two police stations are provided by the North Yorkshire Police Authority. The lifeboat station built in 2007, on the east bank, is operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The crew members are unpaid volunteers and the station has two lifeboats, an inshore D class lifeboat the Warter Priory which was donated to the station in 2017, and an all-weather Shannon-class lifeboat, the Lois Ivan, launched in 2023.

North Yorkshire County Council waste management services provide a household waste recycling centre at Whitby Industrial Estate, and operates an alternate weekly collection of household waste, whereby the type of waste collected alternates between recyclables and landfill waste. The water supply, predominantly from the River Esk, is treated at Ruswarp Water Treatment Works and distributed from there by Yorkshire Water who also deal with the town's sewerage. CE Electric UK is responsible for delivering electricity and Northern Gas Networks supply piped gas.

Education
Whitby has a three-tier school system, primary, middle (11–14) and Caedmon College (11–19), which was formed in 2014 from the merger of Caedmon School (11–14) and Whitby Community College (14–19). Eskdale School continues to operate as a middle school, but is currently consulting on raising its age range to 16. In February 2018 Caedmon College and Eskdale School agreed to federate and plan to provide a joint sixth form operation in the town.

The primary schools are St Hilda's Roman Catholic Primary School, Stakesby Community Primary School, West Cliff Primary School, Airy Hill Community Primary School and East Whitby Community Primary School. North Yorkshire County Council provides education services.

The Whitby and District Fishing Industry Training School offers training for new entrants to the fishing industry and experienced fishermen.

Landmarks
The swing bridge spanning the Esk divides the upper and lower harbours and joins the east and west sides of the town. Whitby developed as an important bridging point of the River Esk and in 1351 permission was granted for tolls to be taken on the bridge for its maintenance. In 1609 a survey for a new bridge was commissioned while in 1628 it was described as a drawbridge where men raised planks to let vessels pass and tolls were collected. The bridge posts were rebuilt in stone at a cost of £3,000 in 1766. This structure was replaced by a four-arched bridge between 1833 and 1835, one arch made of cast iron swivelled to allow vessels to pass. This bridge was replaced between 1908 and 1909 by the current electric swing bridge.

The bridge allowed the town to spread onto the west bank, whilst the east bank, the Haggerlythe, is dominated by St Mary's Church and the ruins of Whitby Abbey which is owned by English Heritage. St Mary's Church is a grade I listed building on the site of a Saxon church. The church's ancient foundation dates from the 12th century. Over time it has been extensively altered and enlarged but retains several features including box pews. The East Cliff is quite a distance by road from the church, the alternative is to climb the 199 steps of the "Church Stairs" or use the footpath called "Caedmon's Trod". The stone stairs, which replaced the original wooden steps, were built about 200 years ago and renovated between 2005 and 2006. There are landings originally assisting coffin bearers on their journey to the graveyard on the cliff top.

The harbour is sheltered by the grade II listed east and west piers each with a lighthouse and beacon. The west lighthouse, of 1831, is the taller at 25.5 m and the east lighthouse, built in 1855, is 16.5 m high. On the west pier extension is a foghorn that sounds a blast every 30 seconds during fog. New lights were fitted to both the lighthouse towers and the beacons in 2011. Whitby Lighthouse, operated by Trinity House, is south-east of the town on Ling Hill.

On the West Cliff is a statue of Captain James Cook who served his apprenticeship in the town, and a whalebone arch, commemorates the whaling industry. It is the second such arch, the original is preserved in Whitby Archives Heritage Centre. By the inner harbour is a statue commemorating William Scoresby Sr. (father of William Scoresby Jr.), designer of the crow's nest.

On the outskirts of town to the west is the 19th-century Sneaton Castle built by James Wilson who sold his sugar plantation where he had over 200 slaves and moved to Whitby. Alongside it is St Hilda's Priory, the mother house of the Order of the Holy Paraclete. The castle was used as a school and is now a conference centre and hotel in association with the priory.

Culture and media
Frank Meadow Sutcliffe left a photographic record of the town, harbour, fishing and residents in late-Victorian times. His most famous photograph entitled "Water Rats" was taken in 1886. He became famous internationally as a great exponent of pictorial photography. He exhibited his work in Tokyo, Vienna, France, the US and Great Britain winning over 60 gold, silver and bronze medals. He retired in 1922 and became curator of Whitby Museum. The Royal Photographic Society made him an honorary member in 1935. A gallery of his work is located on Flowergate. Pannett Park was built on land purchased by a local philanthropist and politician Alderman Robert Pannett in 1902. After his death in 1928, the trust he set up created a public park and art gallery. In 1931 Whitby Museum was built behind the gallery by the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society. It holds a collection of the archaeological and social history of jet and has on display a "Hand of Glory". The Friends of Pannett Park, formed in 2005, successfully bid for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to refurbish the park.

There has been a lifeboat in Whitby since 1802 and the old boathouse, built in 1895 and used until 1957, is a museum displaying the Robert and Ellen Robson lifeboat, built in 1919.

The ancient Penny Hedge ceremony is performed on the eve of Ascension Day commemorating a penance imposed by the abbot on miscreant hunters in the Middle Ages. The hunters using a knife costing a penny had to cut wood in Eskdaleside and take it to Whitby harbour where it was made into a hedge that would survive three tides. This tradition is carried out annually on the east side of the upper harbour.

The Whitby Gazette was founded in 1854 by Ralph Horne, a local printer. The first issues were records of visitors and lodgings rather than a newspaper. The publication became a weekly newspaper in 1858, with a short spell of being published twice weekly between 2000 and 2012. The local radio stations are BBC Radio Tees, This is The Coast and Coast & County Radio

The Pavilion Theatre built in the 1870s in West Cliff hosts a range of events during the summer months. For over four decades the town has hosted the Whitby Folk Week, and since 1993 the bi-annual Whitby Goth Weekend for members of the Goth subculture. "Whitby Now" is an annual live music event featuring local bands in the Pavilion which has taken place since 1991. Since 2008, the Bram Stoker Film Festival has taken place in October.

Literature
The town has a strong literary tradition; it can even be said that the earliest English literature comes from Whitby as Cædmon, the first known Anglo Saxon poet was a monk at the order that used Whitby Abbey during the abbacy of St Hilda (657–680). Part of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula was set in Whitby, incorporating pieces of local folklore, including the beaching of the Russian ship Dmitri. Stoker discovered the name "Dracula" at the old public library. One scholar has suggested that Stoker chose Whitby as the site of Dracula's first appearance in England because of the Synod of Whitby, given the novel's preoccupation with timekeeping and calendar disputes. Elizabeth Gaskell set her novel Sylvia's Lovers partly in the town which she visited in 1859 and Lewis Carroll stayed at 5, East Terrace between July and September 1854: his first publications may have been published in the Whitby Gazette.

Charles Dickens is known to have visited Whitby, and in a letter of 1861 to his friend Wilkie Collins, who was at the time in Whitby, Dickens says:

In my time that curious railroad by the Whitby Moor was so much the more curious, that you were balanced against a counter-weight of water, and that you did it like Blondin. But in these remote days the one inn of Whitby was up a back-yard, and oyster-shell grottoes were the only view from the best private room.

Wilkie Collins stayed in Whitby to work on his novel, No Name. He was accompanied by Caroline Graves, the inspiration for The Woman in White. Mary Linskill was born in a small house at Blackburn's Yard in 1840. She reached a wide readership when her second novel, Between the Heather and the Northern Sea, was published in 1884. Her last novel For Pity's Sake, was published posthumously in 1891. James Russell Lowell, the American writer, visited Whitby while ambassador in London 1880–85, staying at 3 Wellington Terrace, West Cliff. On his last visit in 1889, he wrote:

"This is my ninth year at Whitby and the place loses none of its charm for me."

G. P. Taylor, a former Church of England curate in Whitby, is now a celebrated author. His best-selling book Shadowmancer was set in Whitby. Theresa Tomlinson, a writer of historical and other fiction for children and young adults, lives in the town.

The novel Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt, set in the town, was adapted into a 2002 feature film called Possession starring Gwyneth Paltrow.

A crime novel series by James Whitworth is set in Whitby. The first two novels are Death's Disciple and The Eve of Murder. These were followed by Bidding to Die, Better the Devil You Know and Murder on the Record.

A trilogy of young adult novels, The Whitby Witches, makes much of the town's setting and history, embellishing local traditions whilst incorporating them into the narrative. The author, Robin Jarvis, recalls "The first time I visited Whitby, I stepped off the train and knew I was somewhere very special. It was a grey, drizzling day but that only added to the haunting beauty and lonely atmosphere of the place. Listening to Carmina Burana on my headphones, I explored the ruined abbey on the clifftop. The place was a fantastic inspiration. In The Whitby Witches I have interwoven many of the existing local legends, such as the frightening Barguest, whilst inventing a few of my own, most notably the aufwaders." Jarvis returned to Whitby for his 2016 novel, The Power of Dark, the first in The Witching Legacy series.

Other literary works making reference to Whitby include:
 * Caedmon's Song by Peter Robinson
 * The Hundred and Ninety-Nine Steps by Michel Faber
 * The Resurrectionists by Kim Wilkins
 * The Brenda & Effie Mysteries series by Paul Magrs (consisting of Never the Bride, Something Borrowed, Conjugal Rites, Hell's Belles).
 * Death at the Seaside by Frances Brody

Sport
Wind surfing, sailing and surfing take place off the beaches between Whitby and Sandsend and the area is visited by divers. Whitby has various sports facilities including the town cricket and football pitches and tennis courts.

The Whitby Regatta takes place annually over three days in August. The competition between three rowing clubs – Whitby Friendship ARC, Whitby Fishermen's ARC and Scarborough ARC – forms the backbone of the weekend. The event has expanded to include a fair on the pier, demonstrations, fireworks and military displays – including the spectacle of the Red Arrows aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force. Golfing facilities range from "pitch and putt" to Whitby Golf Club. The golf club formed in 1891 and has been at its current site, a 18-hole course situated on the cliff tops to the northwest of the town, since 1895.

Whitby Town F.C., formed in 1892, is a semi-professional football club which plays in the Northern Premier League at the 3,200 capacity Turnbull Ground on Upgang Lane. England international footballer Beth Mead was born in the town.

Whitby Cricket Club has been in existence since the 1920s and is located on Whitby's West Cliff, on the Turnbull Ground. Two senior Saturday teams compete in the North Yorkshire & South Durham Cricket League and a junior section play in the Derwent Valley Junior Cricket League.

Climate
The area generally has warm summers and relatively mild winters. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season. Its latitude means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing unsettled and windy weather particularly in winter. Between depressions there are often small mobile anticyclones that bring periods of fine weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring dry settled conditions which can lead to drought. The two dominant influences on the climate of the Whitby area are shelter against the worst of the moist westerly winds provided by the North York Moors and the proximity of the North Sea. Late, chilly springs and warm summers are a feature of the area but there are often spells of fine autumn weather. Onshore winds in spring and early summer bring mists or low stratus clouds (known locally as sea frets) to the coast and moors.

On 5 January 2016 the town was seriously affected by flash floods. North Yorkshire Police cautioned motorists to drive with "extreme caution" and advised that the area be avoided "unless absolutely necessary".

Demography
According to the 2011 UK census, Whitby parish had a population of 13,213 living in 6,097 households. In the 2001 UK census of the total number of 5,973 homes 2,034 were rented and 3,939 were owner occupied. Of the 5,506 economically active persons aged between 16 and 74, 420 were unemployed. The number of people working in the service industry was 4,113. Approximately 2,500 people were aged under 16, 8,400 were aged 16–64, and 2,700 aged 65 and over. The mean age of the population was 41.78 years. The number of people who travel to work by motorised transport is 3,134 but 2,190 households have no cars or vans.

Population change
Note: Between 1801 and 1925 Whitby comprised Whitby, Ruswarp and part of Hawsker civil parishes and (between 1894 and 1925) Helredale civil parish, all of which were merged on 1 April 1925 into the current Whitby area.

Notable people

 * Samuel Barnett (1980–), actor
 * William Bateson (1861–1926), geneticist, was born in Whitby
 * Arthur Brown (1942–), musician best known for being the frontman of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
 * William Clarkson (1859–1934), co-founder of the Royal Australian Navy
 * Hilda of Whitby (c. 614 – 680), a saint of the early Church in Britain
 * Adam Lyth (1987–), cricketer who was selected as England's opener for the 2015 Ashes series
 * Beth Mead (1995–), footballer who was a part of England's UEFA Women's Euro 2022 winning side
 * David Mills (footballer) (1951–), former footballer who now works as a scout
 * Mark Richardson (1970–), drummer who was born in Leeds but grew up in Whitby

Twin towns
Whitby is twinned with a number of towns across the globe. Most were either visited by Captain Cook in ships that were built in Whitby – and one was named after Whitby by settlers from England.
 * 🇺🇸 Anchorage, Alaska, United States
 * 🇳🇿 Porirua, New Zealand
 * 🇫🇰 Stanley, Falkland Islands
 * 🇨🇦 Whitby, Canada
 * 🇹🇴 Nukualofa, Tonga
 * 🇺🇸 Kauai County, Hawaii, United States
 * 🇩🇪 Osterode, Germany

title: Whitby


text:
Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince of Ligne

Charles-Joseph Lamoral, 7th Prince de Ligne in French; in German '''Karl-Joseph Lamoral 7. Fürst von Ligne (also known as Karl Fürst von Ligne' or Fürst de Ligne'' ): (23 May 1735 – 13 December 1814) was a field marshal, inhaber of an infantry regiment, prolific writer, intellectual, member of the princely family of Ligne. He fought as a field officer during several famous battles during the Seven Years' War and briefly returned to military duty in the War of the Bavarian Succession. He performed an important diplomatic mission to Catherine the Great in 1787 and led troops against the Ottoman Empire at Belgrade in 1789. Beginning in the 1770s, he authored an impressive volume of work. After his estates in the Austrian Netherlands were lost to France during the War of the First Coalition, he lived in Vienna. All three of his sons died before him, but his wife and four daughters all outlived him. His grandson, the 8th Prince, became a Belgian statesman.

Military service
Prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne was born in Brussels, Austrian Netherlands, the son of Field Marshal Claude Lamoral, 6th Prince of Ligne and Princess Elisabeth Alexandrina zu Salm, daughter of Ludwig Otto, 5th Prince zu Salm and his wife Princess Albertine of Nassau-Hadamar.

As an Austrian subject he entered the imperial army at an early age. He distinguished himself by his valor in the Seven Years' War, notably at Breslau, Leuthen, Hochkirch and Maxen. A young captain at Leuthen, he found himself suddenly in command of 200 men, the battalion colonels and majors having been killed, and led them to shelter from Prussian cannon fire beside a windmill; subsequently, he participated in the retreat to Königsburg.

During the Seven Years' War, de Ligne was promoted major in 1757, Oberstleutnant in 1758, and Oberst (colonel) in 1759. He was named general-major on 23 April 1764 and Feldmarschall-Leutnant on 1 May 1773. He was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1772. He was appointed Inhaber (proprietor) of Infantry Regiment Nr. 30 in 1771, the successor to Prince William Carl Christian of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

He became the intimate friend and counselor of Emperor Joseph II, and, inheriting his father's vast estates, lived in the greatest splendor and luxury until the War of the Bavarian Succession brought him again into active service.

In 1778, de Ligne was impressed by a captured Prussian officer Flemming von Hagen, who was asked about his girl friends by his captors and replied, "I love nothing more dearly than my sword". He wished that more Austrian officers were as serious about their military profession. King Frederick the Great of Prussia built a number of palaces and other buildings in Potsdam, but upon closer inspection, the place had a seedy appearance. de Ligne wrote that Frederick had a chance to do something new in Potsdam, but "he believed that he could bend Nature to his will by the force of his intellect, in the same way as he attained his victories, and managed war, politics, population, finances and industries. But Nature has a way of laughing at heroes. She prefers a Somerset farmer".

This war was short and uneventful, and the prince then traveled in England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France, devoting himself impartially to the courts, the camps, the salons and the learned assemblies of philosophers and scientists in each country. He developed a great admiration for Frederick the Great, even to the point of justifying his seizure of Silesia.

De Ligne was promoted to Feldzeugmeister (full general) on 8 September 1787. He earned the Commander's Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa on 12 October 1789.

In 1787 he was with Catherine II in Russia and accompanied her in her journey to the Crimea. In 1789 he was present at the Siege of Belgrade.

Shortly after the siege of Belgrade, he was invited to place himself at the head of the Belgian revolutionary movement, in which one of his sons and many of his relatives were prominent, but declined with great courtesy, saying that "he never revolted in the winter." Though suspected by Joseph of collusion with the rebels, the two friends were not long estranged, and after the death of the emperor the prince remained in Vienna.

He was appointed Grand Bailiff of Hainaut in 1791. After entering diplomacy, his sympathy for the Belgian rebels closed the door to him. During the annexation by France in 1792, his property was confiscated. He never saw his Château de Beloeil again, which was sequestered, and settled permanently in Vienne in 1792.

His Brabant estates were overrun by the French in 1792–93, and his eldest son killed in action at La Croix-du Bois in the Argonne (14 September 1792). He was given an honorary command at court.

Later life
De Ligne served as captain of the Trabanten Life Guard (Gentlemen at Arms) and the Hofburgwache (Palace Bodyguard) from 13 June 1807 until his death. He received promotion to Feldmarschall on 6 September 1808.

Despite the loss of his estates, Charles-Joseph lived in comparative luxury in his later life, and devoted himself to his literary work. He lived long enough to characterize the proceedings of the Congress of Vienna with the famous mot: "Le Congrès ne marche pas, il danse." (The Congress does not march, it dances.) He has been described as one of the most charming men who ever lived. He died, aged 79, in Vienna in December 1814 and was buried at the Kahlenberg cemetery. In 1815, the proprietorship of Infantry Regiment Nr. 30 passed to Laval Nugent von Westmeath.

Collected works

His collected works appeared in thirty-four volumes at Vienna during the last years of his life (Mélanges militaires, littéraires, sentimentaires), and he bequeathed his manuscripts to the emperor's Trabant Guard, of which he was captain (Œuvres posthumes, Dresden and Vienna, 1817). Selections were published in French, German and English: The most important of his numerous works on all military subjects is the Fantaisies et préjuge's militaires, which originally appeared in 1780. A modern edition is that published by J Dumaine (Paris, 1879). A German version (Miltarische Vorurtheile und Phantasien, etc.) appeared as early as 1783. This work, though it deals lightly and cavalierly with the most important subjects (the prince even proposes to found an international academy of the art of war, wherein the reputation of generals could be impartially weighed), is a military classic, and indispensable to the students of the post-Frederician period. On the whole, it may be said that the prince adhered to the school of Guibert, and a full discussion will be found in Max Jahns' ''Gesch. d. Kriegswissenschaften''. Another very celebrated work by the prince is the mock autobiography of Prince Eugène of Savoy (1809).
 * Œuvres choisies de M. le prince de Ligne (Paris, 1809)
 * Lettres et pensées du Maréchal Prince de Ligne, ed. by Madame de Staël-Holstein (1809)
 * Œuvres historiques, littéraires ... correspondance et poésies diverses (Brussels, 1859)
 * Des Prinzen Karl von Ligne militärische Werke, ed. Count Pappenheim (Sulzbach, 1814)
 * Memoir of Charles-Joseph, Prince de Ligne, ed. Katharine Prescott Wormeley (Boston, 1902)

Other works of his include:
 * Lettres à Eugénie sur les spectacles (1774)
 * Céphalide, ou les Autres mariages samnites, comédie en musique (1777)
 * Préjugés et Fantaisies militaires (1780)
 * Colette et Lucas, comédie en musique (1781)
 * Coup d'œil sur Belœil (1781)
 * Fantaisies militaires (1783)
 * L'Amant ridicule, proverbe en prose (1787)
 * Mélanges militaires, littéraires et sentimentaires (1795–1811)
 * Mémoires sur les Juifs (1795–1811)
 * Les Embarras, pièce en un acte (manuscrit)
 * Contes immoraux

Marriage and issue

On 6 August 1755, in Valtice or Feldsberg, Charles-Joseph married Princess Franziska Xaveria Maria of Liechtenstein (Vienna, 27 November 1739 – Vienna, 17 May 1821), sister of Franz Joseph I, Prince of Liechtenstein. The couple had seven children.

 * Princess Marie Christine Leopoldine (25 May 1757 Brussels – 13 September 1830 Teplice)
 * Prince Charles Antoine Joseph Emanuel (25 September 1759 Brussels – 14 September 1792)
 * Prince Francois Leopold (3 November 1764 – 6 January 1771)
 * Prince Louis Eugene Marie Lamoral (7 May 1766 Brussels – 10 May 1813 Brussels)
 * Prince Adalbert Xavier (26 August 1767 – 23 May 1771)
 * Princess Euphemie Christine Philippine (18 July 1773 Brussels – 30 March 1834 Vienna)
 * Princess Flore Adelaide Caroline (8 November 1775 Brussels – 9 December 1851 Vienna)

He also had two illegitimate daughters: "Adèle" (1809–1810) by Adelaide Fleury; and another one (?) (1770–1770) by Angélique d'Hannetaire (1749–1822). Charles-Joseph legitimated in 1810 the illegitimate beloved daughter of his son Charles, called "Fanny-Christine" (4 January 1788 – 19 May 1867). She is called "Titine" in the diaries and letters of the family; she married Maurice O'Donnell von Tyrconnell (1780–1843).

His grandson, Eugène, 8th Prince de Ligne (1804–1880), was a distinguished Belgian statesman, and another grandson, Count Maximilian O'Donnell von Tyrconnell (1812–1895), helped save the life of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria in Vienna in 1853.

title: Charles-Joseph, 7th Prince of Ligne


text:
Talk:Polyglotism

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Pau.guerra.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 06:55, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Proposed merge with Hyperglot
Hyperpolyglot already redirects to Polyglotism, but the latter article doesn't contain much information on hyperpolyglots. Consider adding the relevant information to Polyglotism then changing this article to a redirect. Roches (talk) 05:31, 20 August 2015 (UTC)
 * This has been done. Roches (talk) 05:33, 20 August 2015 (UTC)

The discussion
Normally, when an article has had a history of being nominated for deletion, it says "the discussion" as a wikilink. At the top of this discussion page, there is a note saying that this article was nominated for deletion, and it says that the results of the discussion was "Keep/ no consensus", but the words "the discussion" are not in wikilinks. Vorbee (talk) 18:47, 23 December 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ Cnilep (talk) 00:34, 24 December 2018 (UTC)

title: Talk:Polyglotism


text:
Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert

Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert (12 November 1743 – 6 May 1790) was a French general and military writer. Born at Montauban, he accompanied his father in wars before he became a general himself. In 1770, he published an essay on tactics which was very influential in his time.

Biography
He was born at Montauban, and at the age of thirteen accompanied his father, Charles-Benoît, comte de Guibert (1715–1786), chief of staff to Maréchal de Broglie, throughout the Seven Years' War in Germany, and was awarded the cross of St Louis and then promoted to the rank of colonel in the expedition to Corsica (1767).

In 1773 he visited Germany and was present at the Prussian regimental drills and army manœuvres; Frederick the Great, recognizing Guibert's ability, showed great favour to the young comte and freely discussed military questions with him. Guibert's Journal d'un voyage en Allemagne was published, with a memoir, by Toulongeon (Paris, 1803). His Défense du système de guerre moderne, a reply to his many critics (Neuchâtel, 1779) is a reasoned and scientific defence of the Prussian method of tactics, which formed the basis of his work when in 1775 he began to co-operate with the count de Saint-Germain in a series of much-needed and successful reforms in the French army. During those years, he also won the love of Julie de Lespinasse, whose love letters to him, later published, are still read today.

In 1777, however, Saint-Germain fell into disgrace, and his fall involved that of Guibert who was promoted to the rank of maréchal de camp and relegated to a provincial staff appointment. In his semi-retirement he vigorously defended his old chief Saint-Germain against his detractors. On the eve of the Revolution he was recalled to the War Office, but in his turn he became the object of attack and he died, practically of disappointment, on 6 May 1790.

Writings
In 1770 he published his Essai général de tactique in London, and this celebrated work appeared in numerous subsequent editions and in English, German and even Persian translations (extracts also in Liskenne and Sauvan, Bibl. historique et militaire, Paris, 1845). Of this work (for a detailed critique of which see Max Jahns, Gesch. d. Kriegswissenschaften, vol. iii. pp. 2058–2070 and references therein) it may be said that it was the best essay on war produced by a soldier during a period in which tactics were discussed even in the salon and military literature was more abundant than at any time up to 1871.

Apart from technical questions, in which Guibert's enlightened conservatism stands in marked contrast to the doctrinaire progressiveness of Mesnil-Durand, Folard and others, the book is chiefly valued for its broad outlook on the state of Europe, especially of military Europe in the period 1763–1792. One quotation may be given as being a most remarkable prophecy of the impending revolution in the art of war, a revolution which the "advanced" tacticians themselves scarcely foresaw. "The standing armies, while a burden on the people, are inadequate for the achievement of great and decisive results in war, and meanwhile the mass of the people, untrained in arms, degenerates. ... The hegemony over Europe will fall to that nation which ... becomes possessed of manly virtues and creates a national army"—a prediction fulfilled almost to the letter within twenty years of Guibert's death.

Other works of Guibert, besides those mentioned, are: Observations sur la constitution politique et militaire des armées de S. M. Prussienne (Amsterdam, 1778), Eloges of Marshal Catinat (1775), of Michel de l'Hôpital (1778), and of Frederick the Great (1787). Guibert was a member of the Académie française from 1786, and he also wrote a tragedy, Le Connétable de Bourbon (1775) and a journal of travels in France and Switzerland. His final work was De la force publique considérée par tous ses rapports (Paris: Didot l'aîné, 1790) in which he contradicted several of the postulates on militias and professional armies. Guibert's writing on the subject - pondering the advantages and disadvantages of militias/conscript armies and mercenaries/professional forces until this day cover most fundamental arguments on the subject.

Guibert distinguished between "tactics" and "grand tactics" (which scholars today would refer to as grand strategy) in General Essay on Tactics.

Guibert's works

 * Guibert: Guibert's  General Essay on Tactics, trans. Jonathan Abel (Leiden: Brill, 2021)
 * Anon. (Guibert): Essai général de la Tactique (London: chez les libraires associés, 1772)
 * translated by Lieutenant Douglas: A General Essay on Tactics (Whitehall: J.Millar, 1781)
 * For translations of excerpts of both the Essai général de la Tactique and De la force publique into modern English, see Beatrice Heuser, The Strategy Makers: Thoughts on War and Society from Machiavelli to Clausewitz (Santa Monica, CA: Greenwood/Praeger, 2010), ISBN 978-0-275-99826-4, pp. 147–170.

Secondary Literature

 * Jonathan Abel, Jacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, comte de Guibert: Father of Napoleon's Grande Armée (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2016)
 * Ethel Groffier, Le stratège des Lumières : Le comte de Guibert (1743-1790), Honoré Champion Éditeur, Paris (2005), 432 pages (ISBN 2745311166)
 * Lucien Poirier, Les voix de la Stratégie (Paris: Fayard, 1985)
 * See Toulongeon, Eloge véridique de Guibert (Paris, 1790); Madame de Stäel, Eloge de Guibert; Bardin, Notice historique du général Guibert (Paris. I836); Flavian d'Aldeguier, Discours sur la vie et les écrits du comte de Guibert (Toulouse, 1855); Count Forestie, Biographie du comte de Guibert (Montauban, 1855); Count zur Lippe, "Friedrich der Grosse und Oberst Guibert" Militaer-Wochenblatt 9 and 10 (1873).
 * Beatrice Heuser: "Guibert (1744-1790): Prophet of Total War?", in Stig Förster & Roger Chickering (eds.): War in an Age of Revolution: The Wars of American Independence and French Revolution, 1775-1815 (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 49–67.


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Victor François de Broglie, 2nd Duke of Broglie

Victor François de Broglie, Duke of Broglie (19 October 1718 – 30 March 1804) was a French aristocrat and soldier and a marshal of France. He served with his father, François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, at Parma and Guastalla, and in 1734 obtained a colonelcy.

In the War of the Austrian Succession, he took part in the storming of Prague in 1742, and was made a brigadier. In 1744 and 1745 he saw further service on the Rhine, and he succeeded his father as 2nd duc de Broglie on the old duke's death in 1745. He was made a Maréchal de Camp, and he subsequently served with Marshal de Saxe in the Low Countries, and was present at Roucoux, Val and Maastricht. At the end of the war, he was made a lieutenant-general.

During the Seven Years' War, he served successively under Louis Charles César Le Tellier, duc d'Estrées, Charles de Rohan, prince de Soubise, and Contades, being present at all the battles from Hastenbeck onwards. His victory over Prince Ferdinand at Bergen (1759) won him the rank of marshal of France from the French King Louis XV and the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Reichsfürst from Holy Roman Emperor Francis I.

In 1759, he won the Battle of Bergen and followed that with the capture the city of Minden, later fighting at the Battle of Minden under the command of Contades, whom he would succeed in command. In 1760, he won an action at the Korbach, but was defeated at Villinghausen in 1761. After the war, he fell into disgrace and was not recalled to active employment until 1778, when he was given command of the troops designed to operate against Great Britain, when France intervened on the Thirteen Colonies' side during the American war of independence. He played a prominent part in the French Revolution, which he opposed with determination; he commanded troops at Versailles in July 1789 and briefly served as Louis XVI's minister of war before fleeing France. After his emigration, the duc de Broglie commanded the Army of the Princes for a short time (1792).

Since the duke's eldest son, Charles-Louis-Victor, prince de Broglie, died in the Terror, the succession fell to his grandson, who became the third duc de Broglie. He died at Münster in 1804.

Issue

 * Charles-Louis-Victor, prince de Broglie
 * Bishop Maurice-Jean de Broglie


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Preternatural

The preternatural (or praeternatural) is that which appears outside, beside or beyond (Latin: præter) the natural. It is "suspended between the mundane and the miraculous".

In theology, the term is often used to distinguish marvels or deceptive trickery, often attributed to witchcraft or demons, from purely divine power of genuinely supernatural origin that transcends the laws of nature. Preternatural is also used to describe gifts such as immortality, possessed by Adam and Eve before the fall of man into original sin, and the power of flight that angels are thought to have. In the early modern period, the term was used by scientists to refer to abnormalities and strange phenomena of various kinds that seemed to depart from the norms of nature.

Theology
Medieval theologians made a clear distinction between the natural, the preternatural and the supernatural. Thomas Aquinas argued that the supernatural consists in "God’s unmediated actions"; the natural is "what happens always or most of the time"; and the preternatural is "what happens rarely, but nonetheless by the agency of created beings ... Marvels belong, properly speaking, to the realm of the preternatural." Theologians, following Aquinas, argued that only God had the power to disregard the laws of nature that he has created, but that demons could manipulate the laws of nature by a form of trickery, to deceive the unwary into believing they had experienced real miracles. According to historian Lorraine Daston,

"Although demons, astral intelligences, and other spirits might manipulate natural causes with superhuman dexterity and thereby work marvels, as mere creatures they could never transcend from the preternatural to the supernatural and work genuine miracles."

By the 16th century, the term "preternatural" was increasingly used to refer to demonic activity comparable to the use of magic by human adepts: The Devil, "being a natural Magician ... may perform many acts in ways above our knowledge, though not transcending our natural power." According to the philosophy of the time, preternatural phenomena were not contrary to divine law, but used hidden, or occult powers that violated the normal pattern of natural phenomena.

Orestes Brownson, in his nineteenth-century autobiographical novel The Spirit-Rapper, has the Christian apologist Mr. Merton say "Man has a double nature, is composed of body and soul ... A supernatural power assists him to rise; a preternatural power assists him, so to speak, to descend".

Science
With the emergence of early modern science, the concept of the preternatural increasingly came to be used to refer to strange or abnormal phenomena that seemed to violate the normal working of nature, but which were not associated with magic and witchcraft. This was a development of the idea that preternatural phenomena were fake miracles. As Daston puts it, "To simplify the historical sequence somewhat: first, preternatural phenomena were demonized and thereby incidentally naturalized; then the demons were deleted, leaving only the natural causes." The use of the term was especially common in medicine, for example in John Brown's A Compleat Treatise of Preternatural Tumours (1678), or William Smellie's A Collection of Preternatural Cases and Observations in Midwifery (1754).

In the 19th century the term was appropriated in anthropology to refer to folk beliefs about fairies, trolls and other such creatures which were not thought of as demonic, but which were perceived to affect the natural world in unpredictable ways. According to Thorstein Veblen, such preternatural agents were often thought of as forces somewhere between supernatural beings and material processes. "The preternatural agency is not necessarily conceived to be a personal agent in the full sense, but it is an agency which partakes of the attributes of personality to the extent of somewhat arbitrarily influencing the outcome of any enterprise, and especially of any contest."

The linguistic association between individual agents and unexplained or unfortunate circumstances remains. Many people attribute occurrences that are known to be material processes, such as "gremlins in the engine", a "bug in the machine", or attributing motives to objects: "the clouds are threatening". The anthropomorphism in our daily life is a combination of the above cultural stems, as well as the manifestation of our pattern-projecting minds.

Scholarship
In 2011, Penn State Press began publishing a learned journal titled Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural. Edited by Kirsten Uszkalo and Richard Raiswell, the journal is dedicated to publishing articles, reviews and short editions of original texts that deal with conceptions and perceptions of the preternatural in any culture and in any historical period. The journal covers "magics, witchcraft, spiritualism, occultism, prophecy, monstrophy, demonology, and folklore."

title: Preternatural


text:
François Marie de Broglie, 1st Duke of Broglie

François Marie de Broglie, 1st Duke of Broglie (11 January 1671 – 22 May 1745) was a French military leader.

Early years
François-Marie de Broglie was the third son of Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, named for his grandfather, François Marie. He entered the army at an early age, and had a varied career of active service before he was made, at the age of twenty-three, lieutenant-colonel of the king's regiment of cavalry.

Career
He served continuously in the War of the Spanish Succession and was present at Malplaquet. He was made lieutenant-general in 1710, and served with Villars in the last campaign of the war and at the Battle of Denain. During the peace he continued in military employment, and in 1719 he was made director-general of cavalry and dragoons. He was also employed in diplomatic missions and was ambassador in England in 1724.

The war in Italy called him into the field again in 1733, and in the following year he was made marshal of France. In the campaign of 1734 he was one of the chief commanders on the French side, and he fought the Battles of Parma and Guastalla. A famous episode was his narrow personal escape when his quarters on the Secchia (battle of Quistello)   were raided by the enemy on the night of 14 September 1734.

In 1735 he directed a war of positions with credit, but he was soon replaced by Marshal de Noailles. He was governor-general of Alsace when Frederick the Great paid a secret visit to Strasbourg in 1740.

In 1742, during the War of the Austrian Succession, Broglie was appointed to command the French army in Germany, but the only success obtained was in the action of Sahay (25 May 1742), for which he was created duc de Broglie and made a peer of France. He returned to France in 1743, and died two years later.

Children

 * 1) Victor François de Broglie, 2nd Duke of Broglie
 * 2) Charles François de Broglie, Marquis of Ruffec.