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Singing Revolution

The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after the 10–11 June 1988 spontaneous mass evening singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds.

Background
During World War II, the three Baltic countries were invaded and occupied by the Stalinist Soviet Union in June 1940, and formally annexed into the USSR in August 1940. Following the Nazi German occupation in 1941–1944/45, the three countries were reconquered by the Soviet army in 1944–1945.

In 1985, the last leader of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring"), hoping to stimulate the failing Soviet economy and encourage productivity, particularly in the areas of consumer goods, the liberalisation of cooperative businesses, and growing the service economy. Glasnost rescinded limitations on political freedoms in the Soviet Union, which led to problems for the Soviet central government in retaining control over non-Russian areas, including the occupied Baltic countries.

Hitherto unrecognised issues previously kept secret by the Soviet central government in Moscow were admitted to in public, causing further popular dissatisfaction with the Soviet regime in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Combined with the war in Afghanistan and the nuclear fallout in Chernobyl, grievances were aired in a publicly explosive and politically decisive manner. Estonians were concerned about the demographic threat to their national identity posed by the influx of individuals from foreign ethnic groups to work on such large Soviet development projects as phosphate mining.

Access to Western émigré communities abroad and, particularly in Estonia, informal relations with Finland, and access to Finnish TV showing the Western lifestyle also contributed to widespread dissatisfaction with the Soviet system and provoked mass demonstrations as repression on dissidents, nationalists, religious communities, and ordinary consumers eased substantially towards the end of the 1980s.

Massive demonstrations against the Soviet regime began after widespread liberalisation of the regime failed to take into account national sensitivities. It was hoped by Moscow that the non-Russian nations would remain within the USSR despite the removal of restrictions on freedom of speech and national icons (such as the local pre-1940 flags). However, the situation deteriorated to such an extent that by 1989 there were campaigns aimed at freeing the nations from the Soviet Union altogether.

Estonia
The Soviet government's plan to excavate phosphorite in the Lääne-Viru county with potentially catastrophic consequences for the environment and society was revealed in February 1987. That started the "Phosphorite War", a public environmental campaign. The MRP-AEG group held the Hirvepark meeting in the Old Town of Tallinn at the anniversary of Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact on 23 August 1987, demanding to disclose and condemn its secret protocol.

The "Five Patriotic Songs" series by Alo Mattiisen premiered at the Tartu Pop Festival in May 1988. In June the Old Town Festival was held in Tallinn, and after the official part of the festival, the participants moved to the Song Festival Grounds and started to sing patriotic songs together spontaneously. The Baltic Way, a human chain of two million people, spanned from Tallinn to Vilnius on 23 August 1989. Mattiisen's "Five Patriotic Songs" were performed again at the Rock Summer festival in Tallinn held on 26–28 August 1988. The Song of Estonia festival was held at the Song Festival Grounds on 11 September. Trivimi Velliste, Chairman of the Estonian Heritage Society, first voiced the public ambition to regain independence. The Supreme Soviet of Estonia issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration on 16 November.

The Singing Revolution lasted over four years, with various protests and acts of defiance. The revolution was led by three different groups: the Heritage Society, the Popular Front, and the National Independence Party. The Heritage Society, established in 1987, focused on spreading awareness about Estonia's history to gather support for Estonia's independence from the Soviets. The Popular Front, founded in 1988, wanted to reform Estonia into self-government within a loose confederation of the Soviet Union. The National Independence Party, established in 1988 as well, was more radical than the other two organizations and demanded complete independence from the Soviet Union.

In 1991, as the central government in Moscow and the Soviet Army attempted to stop the Estonian progress towards independence, the newly elected legislature of Estonia together with an elected grassroots parliament, Congress of Estonia, proclaimed the restoration of the independent state of Estonia and repudiated Soviet legislation. Large groups of unarmed volunteers went to shield the parliament, radio and TV buildings from any attacks by Soviet troops. Through these actions Estonia regained its independence without any blood shed.

Independence was declared on the late evening of 20 August 1991, after an agreement between different political parties was reached. The next morning Soviet troops, according to Estonian TV, attempted to storm Tallinn TV Tower but were unsuccessful. The Communist hardliners' coup attempt failed amidst mass pro-democracy demonstrations in Moscow led by Boris Yeltsin.

On 22 August 1991, Iceland (independent country since 1944) announced the establishment of diplomatic relations with Estonia, and Iceland thus became the first foreign country to formally recognise the fully restored independence of Estonia in 1991. Today, a plaque commemorating this event is situated on the outside wall of the Foreign Ministry, which is on Islandi väljak 1, or "Iceland Square 1". The plaque reads; "The Republic of Iceland was the first to recognise, on 22 August 1991, the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Estonia", in Estonian, Icelandic and English. Some other nations did not recognise the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union.

Latvia
During the second half of the 1980s as Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika in the USSR, which rolled back restrictions to freedom in the Soviet Union, aversion to the Soviet regime had grown into the third Latvian National Awakening, which reached its peak in mid-1988.

In 1986, it became widely known to the public that the USSR was planning to build another hydroelectric power plant on Latvia's largest river Daugava, and that a decision had been made to build a metro in Riga. Both of these projects planned by Moscow could have led to the destruction of Latvia's landscape and cultural and historical heritage. In the press journalists urged the public to protest against these decisions. The public reacted immediately, and in response, the Environmental Protection Club was founded on 28 February 1987. During the second half of the 1980s, the Environmental Protection Club became one of the most influential mass movements in the region and began to make demands for the restoration of Latvia's independence.

On 14 June 1987, the anniversary of the 1941 deportations, the human rights group "Helsinki-86", which had been founded a year earlier, organized people to place flowers at the Freedom Monument (Latvia's symbol of independence, which was erected in 1935). This is widely cited as the beginning of the National Awakening. However, the Latvian Song and Dance Festival of 1985 also had been sometimes named as such for choirs requesting and performing the song Gaismas pils conducted by Haralds Mednis after the main event. The song, which speaks about the rebirth of a free Latvian nation, usually a staple of the festival, had been removed from the repertoire; the conductor, disliked by Soviet authorities, was sidelined at the closing concert. He was called from his seat by the choir and 'Gaismas pils' was performed, airing live on Riga Television.

On 1 and 2 June 1988, the Writers' Union held a congress during which the democratization of society, Latvia's economic sovereignty, the cessation of immigration from the USSR, the transformation of industry, and the protection of Latvian language rights were discussed by delegates. Over the course of this conference, for the first time in post-war Latvia, the secret protocol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which had determined Latvia's fate after 1939, was publicly acknowledged.

The congress of the Writers' Union stirred up public opinion and provided an additional stimulus for the general process of national revival.

In the summer of 1988, two of the most important organizations of the revival period began to assemble themselves—the Latvian People's Front and the Latvian National Independence Movement (LNIM). Soon afterwards the more radically inclined Citizens' Congress called for complete non-compliance with the representatives of the Soviet regime. All of these organisations had a common goal: the restoration of democracy and independence. On 7 October 1988, there was a mass public demonstration, calling for Latvia's independence and the establishment of a regular judicial order. On 8 and 9 October the first congress of the Latvian People's Front was held. This organization, which attracted 200,000 members, became the main representative of the return to independence.

On 23 August 1989, the fiftieth anniversary of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the People's Fronts of all three Baltic countries held a huge demonstration of unity—the "Baltic Way". A 600 km long human "chain" from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius was assembled. This was a symbolic demonstration of the people's call for independence from the Soviet Union.

New elections to the Supreme Soviet took place on 18 March 1990, in which the supporters of independence gained a victory. On 4 May 1990, the new Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR adopted a motion, "Declaration of Independence", which called for the restoration of the inter-war Latvian state and the 1922 Constitution.

In January 1991, however, pro-communist political forces attempted to restore Soviet power. With the use of force, attempts were made to overthrow the new assembly. Latvian demonstrators managed to stop the Soviet troops from re-occupying strategic positions, and these events are known as the "Days of the Barricades".

On 19 August 1991, an unsuccessful attempt at a coup d'état took place in Moscow when a small group of prominent Soviet functionaries failed to regain power due to large pro-democracy demonstrations in Russia. This event resulted in Latvia swiftly moving toward independence. After the coup's failure, the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Republic announced on 21 August 1991, that the transition period to full independence declared on 4 May 1990 had come to an end. Therefore, Latvia was proclaimed a fully independent nation whose judicial foundation stemmed back to the statehood that existed before the occupation on 17 June 1940.

Lithuania
Between 1956 and 1987, open public resistance to the Soviet regime was rare. It became more persistent in the 1970s and 1980s. One example of this could be the Kaunas events of 1972. Many popular singers often used the poetry of nationalist poets such as Bernardas Brazdžionis or Justinas Marcinkevičius, as the lyrics of their songs. In 1987 the Rock March also promoted awareness of the issue among the people.

In 1987, various organisations (mainly environmental ones) were founded. On 3 June 1988, the Sąjūdis, a political and social movement, was established. Some initiators of this movement were active members of environmental organisations, established in 1987 (e. g. Zigmas Vaišvila, Gintaras Songaila). Initially, this organisation supported the regime, but in early autumn of the same year after Lithuania-wide growth, it became an opposing force to the CPL.

In response to this, Sąjūdis became a more centralised organisation. The active nationalist opposition (mostly the Lithuanian Liberty League) towards the regime culminated in various public protests. The most notorious of them took place on 28 October 1988, which ended up with violent dispersal. The resulting public anger caused resignations in the Communist Party of Lithuania (including the then-First Secretary of the party, Ringaudas Songaila, who served just over a year) and replaced them with more moderate members.

As the CPL leadership changed, it decided to return Vilnius Cathedral, formerly used as a museum of fine arts, to the Catholic community on 21 October 1988. The national anthem of Lithuania and the traditional national Tricolore were legalised in Lithuania on 18 November 1988, officially replacing the flag and the anthem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was followed by the recognition of the Lithuanian language as a state language, what meant that it became the sole legal language on an institutional level. The latter change was instrumental in the removal of some officials (e. g. Nikolai Mitkin, who served as the Second Secretary of the CPL), but fueled tensions in Polish and Russian speaking communities.

It was followed by the gradual rebuilding of national symbols, which included erecting or restoring independence monuments throughout the country in late 1988 and 1989.

During 1989, various organisations (e. g. The Writers Union) split from the Soviet ones. Prior to the election of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union, Sąjūdis media became more restricted, but after the defeat of the CPL (it won just 6 seats of 42, other seats were won Sąjūdis supported candidates), restrictions were lifted. By the end of the year, the CPL gave up its power monopoly and agreed to hold free elections for Supreme Soviet of Lithuanian SSR in 1990, which it lost.

Five decades after Lithuania was occupied and incorporated into the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first republic to declare its independence from the USSR on 11 March 1990, while Estonia and Latvia declared Soviet rule to have been illegal from the start and since full restoration of independence was not yet feasible, started a period of transition towards independence, culminating with the failure of the August coup. For the same reason, almost all nations in the international community, except Iceland, hesitated to recognise independence for Lithuania until August 1991.

The Soviet military responded harshly. On 13 January 1991, fourteen non-violent protesters in Vilnius died and hundreds were injured defending the Vilnius Television Tower and the Parliament from Soviet assault troops and tanks. Lithuanians refer to the event as Bloody Sunday. The discipline and courage of its citizens – linking arms and singing in the face of tanks and armour-piercing bullets – avoided a much greater loss of life and showed the world that Lithuania's citizens were prepared to defend their national independence.

International governments began recognizing Lithuanian independence after the failure of the coup d'état in August 1991.

Notable protest songs

 * "The Baltics Are Waking Up" (Bunda jau Baltija, Atmostas Baltija, Ärgake, Baltimaad) (LIT/LAT/EST)
 * "Brīvību Baltijai" (LAT) ("Freedom for the Baltics")
 * "Dzimtā valoda" (LAT) ("Mother tongue")
 * "Lāčplēsis" (LAT) ("Bear slayer")
 * "Manai Tautai" (LAT) ("To My Nation")
 * "Gaismas pils" (LAT) ("Castle of Light")
 * "Pūt, Vējiņi!" – Latvian version of a Livonian wedding folk song ("Pūgõ tūļ") and often used in place of the national anthem during the Soviet era. (LAT) ("Blow, Winds!")
 * "Saule, Pērkons, Daugava" (LAT) ("Sun, Thunder, Daugava")
 * "Ei ole üksi ükski maa" (EST) ("There is no land alone")
 * "Eestlane olen ja eestlaseks jään" (EST) ("Estonian I am and Estonian I will be")
 * "Isamaa ilu hoieldes" (EST) ("Keeping the beauty of fatherland")
 * "Sind surmani" (EST) ("Until I Die")
 * "Mingem üles mägedele" (EST) ("Let's go up the mountains")
 * "Laisvė" (canonical perf. Eurika Masytė) (LIT) ("Freedom")
 * "Palaimink Dieve mus" (LIT) ("God bless us")
 * "Dėl Tos Dainos" (LIT) ("For That Song")
 * "Pabudome ir kelkimės" (LIT) ("We woke up, now let's get up")
 * "Kokia nuostabi, Lietuva esi" (canonical perf. Kipras Mašanauskas) (LIT) ("How amazing you are, Lithuania")
 * "Šaukiu aš tautą" (canonical perf. Vytautas Kernagis) (LIT) ("I call the nation")
 * "Tėvyne dainų ir artojų" (canonical perf. Rondo) (LIT) ("Homeland of songs and sons of the soil")
 * "Mano mylimoji / per pasaulio sniegą ..." (canonical perf. Gintarė Jautakaitė) (LIT) ("My beloved / through the snow of the world")
 * "Broli, neverk!" (LIT) ("Brother, don't cry")
 * "Pīmiņ bruoļ" (LTG) ("Remember, brother") Latgalian awakening song.

title: Singing Revolution


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Royal Mint

The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's official maker of British coins. It is currently located in Llantrisant, Wales, where it moved in 1968.

Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclusive contract to supply the nation's coinage. As well as minting circulating coins for the UK and international markets, The Royal Mint is a leading provider of precious metal products.

The Royal Mint was historically part of a series of mints that became centralised to produce coins for the Kingdom of England, all of Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and nations across the Commonwealth.

The Royal Mint operated within the Tower of London for several hundred years before moving to what is now called Royal Mint Court, where it remained until the 1960s. As Britain followed the rest of the world in decimalising its currency, the Mint moved from London to a new 38-acre (15 ha) plant in Llantrisant, Glamorgan, Wales, where it has remained since.

Since 2018 The Royal Mint has been evolving its business to help offset declining cash use. It has expanded into precious metals investment, historic coins, and luxury collectibles, which saw it deliver an operating profit of £12.7 million in 2020–2021.

In 2022 The Royal Mint announced it was building a new plant in South Wales to recover precious metals from electronic waste. The first of this sustainably sourced gold is already being used in a new jewellery division – 886 by The Royal Mint – named in celebration of its symbolic founding date.

Origin
The history of coins in Great Britain can be traced back to the second century BC when they were introduced by Celtic tribes from across the English Channel. The first record of coins being minted in Britain is attributed to Kentish tribes such as the Cantii who around 80–60 BC imitated those of Marseille through casting instead of hammering. After the Romans began their invasion of Britain in AD 43, they set up mints across the land, which produced Roman coins for some 40 years before closing. A mint in London reopened briefly in 383 until closing swiftly as Roman rule in Britain came to an end. For the next 200 years, no coins appear to have been minted in Britain until the emergence of English kingdoms in the sixth and seventh centuries. By 650, as many as 30 mints are recorded across Britain.

1279 to 1672
In 1279, the country's numerous mints were unified under a single system whereby control was centralised to the mint within the Tower of London. Mints outside London were reduced, with only a few local and episcopal mints continuing to operate. Pipe rolls containing the financial records of the London mint show an expenditure of £729 17s $8 1/2$d and records of timber bought for workshops.

Individual roles at the mint were well established by 1464. The master worker was charged with hiring engravers and managing moneyers, while the Warden was responsible for witnessing the delivery of dies. A specialist mint board was set up in 1472 to enact a 23 February indenture that vested the mint's responsibilities into three main roles: a warden, a master and comptroller.

In the early 16th century, mainland Europe was in the middle of an economic expansion, but England was suffering from financial difficulties brought on by excessive government spending. By the 1540s, wars with France and Scotland led Henry VIII to enact The Great Debasement, which saw the amount of precious metal in coins significantly reduced. In order to strengthen control of the country's currency, monasteries were dissolved, which effectively ended major coin production outside London.

In 1603, the Union of Crowns of England and Scotland under King James I led to a partial union of the two kingdoms' currencies, the pound Scots and the pound sterling. Because Scotland had heavily debased its silver coins, a Scots mark was worth just $13 1/2$ pence while an English mark was worth 6 shillings 8 pence (80 pence). To bridge the difference between the values, unofficial supplementary token coins, often made from lead, were made by unauthorised minters across the country. By 1612, there were 3,000 such unlicensed mints producing these tokens, none of them paying anything to the government. The Royal Mint, not wanting to divert manpower from minting more profitable gold and silver coins, hired outside agent Lord Harington who, under license, started issuing copper farthings in 1613. Private licenses to mint these coins were revoked in 1644, which led traders to resume minting their own supplementary tokens. In 1672, the Royal Mint finally took over the production of copper coinage.

Civil War mints
In 1630, sometime before the outbreak of the English Civil War, England signed a treaty with Spain that ensured a steady supply of silver bullion to the Tower mint. Additional branch mints to aid the one in London were set up, including one at Aberystwyth Castle in Wales. In 1642, parliament seized control of the Tower mint. After Charles I tried to arrest the Five Members, he was forced to flee London and established at least 16 emergency mints across the British Isles in Carlisle, Chester, Colchester, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh, Exeter, Newark, Pontefract, Salisbury, Scarborough, parts of Cornwall including Truro, Weymouth, Worcester, and York (see also siege money).

After raising the royal standard in Nottingham, marking the beginning of the civil war, Charles called on loyalist mining engineer Thomas Bushell, the owner of a mint and silver mine in Aberystwyth, to move his operations to the royalist-held Shrewsbury, possibly within the grounds of Shrewsbury Castle. However, this mint was short-lived, operating for no more than three months before Charles ordered Bushell to relocate the mint to his headquarters in the royal capital of Oxford. The new Oxford mint was established on 15 December 1642 in New Inn Hall, the present site of St Peter's College. There, silver plates and foreign coins were melted down and, in some cases, just hammered into shape to produce coins quickly. Bushell was appointed the mint's warden and master-worker, and he laboured alongside notable engravers Nicholas Briot, Thomas Rawlins and Nicholas Burghers, the last of whom was appointed Graver of Seals, Stamps, and Medals in 1643. When Prince Rupert took control of Oxford that same year, Bushell was ordered to move to Bristol Castle, where he continued minting coins until it fell to parliamentary control on 11 September 1645, effectively ending Bushell's involvement in the civil war mints.

In November 1642, the king ordered royalist MP Richard Vyvyan to build one or more mints in Cornwall, where he was instructed to mint coins from whatever bullion could be obtained and deliver it to Ralph Hopton, a commander of royalist troops in the region. Vyvyan built a mint in Truro and was its Master until 1646, when it was captured by parliamentarians. In December 1642, the parliamentarians set up a mint in nearby Exeter, which had been under parliamentary control since the beginning of the war and was under constant threat of attack by loyalist troops. In September 1643, the town was captured by the Cornish Royalist Army led by Prince Maurice, leading Vyvyan to move his nearby mint in Truro to the captured town. The exact location of the mint in Exeter is unknown; however, maps from the time show a street named Old Mint Lane near Friernhay, which was to be the site of a 1696 Recoinage mint. Much less is known about the mint's employees, with only Richard Vyvyan and clerk Thomas Hawkes recorded. Following Charles I's execution in 1649, the newly formed Commonwealth of England established its own set of coins, which for the first time used English rather than Latin and were more plainly designed than those issued under the monarchy. The government invited French engineer Peter Blondeau, who worked at the Paris Mint, to come to London in 1649 in the hope of modernising the country's minting process. In France, hammer-stuck coins had been banned from the Paris Mint since 1639 and replaced with milled coinage. Blondeau began his testing in May 1651 in Drury House. He initially produced milled silver pattern pieces of half-crowns, shillings and sixpences; however rival moneyers continued using the old hammering method. In 1656, Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell ordered engraver Thomas Simon to cut a series of dies featuring his bust and for them to be minted using the new milled method. Few of Cromwell's coins entered circulation; Cromwell died in 1658 and the Commonwealth collapsed two years later. Without Cromwell's backing of milled coinage, Blondeau returned to France, leaving England to continue minting hammer-struck coins.

1660 to 1805
In 1662, after previous attempts to introduce milled coinage into Britain had failed, the restored monarch Charles II recalled Peter Blondeau to establish a permanent machine-made coinage. Despite the introduction of the newer, milled coins, like the old hammered coins they suffered heavily from counterfeiting and clipping. To combat this the text Decus et tutamen ("An ornament and a safeguard") was added to some coin rims.

After the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when James II was ousted from power, parliament took over control of the mint from the Crown, which had until then allowed the mint to act as an independent body producing coins on behalf of the government.

Under the patronage of Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, Isaac Newton became the mint's warden in 1696. His role, intended to be a sinecure, was taken seriously by Newton, who went about trying to combat the country's growing problems with counterfeiting. By this time, forgeries accounted for 10% of the country's coinage, clipping was commonplace and the value of the silver in coins had surpassed their face value. King William III initiated the Great Recoinage of 1696 whereby all coins were removed from circulation, and enacted the Coin Act 1696, making it high treason to own or possess counterfeiting equipment. Satellite mints to aid in the recoinage were established in Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Norwich, and York, with returned coins being valued by weight, not face value.

The Acts of Union 1707 united England and Scotland into one country, leading London to take over production of Scotland's currency and thus replacing Scotland's Pound Scots with the English Pound sterling. As a result, the Edinburgh mint closed on 4 August 1710. As Britain's empire continued to expand, so too did the need to supply its coinage. This, along with the need for new mint machinery and cramped conditions within the Tower of London, led to plans for the mint to move to nearby East Smithfield.

Tower Hill
Construction started in 1805 on the new purpose-built mint on Tower Hill, opposite the Tower of London, and it was completed by 1809. In 1812, the move became official: the keys of the old mint were ceremoniously delivered to the Constable of the Tower. Facing the front of the site, stood the Johnson Smirke Building, named for its designer James Johnson and builder Robert Smirke. Construction was supervised by the architect John Lidbury Poole (father of the famous singer, Elizabeth Poole). This building was flanked on both sides by gatehouses behind which another building housed the mint's new machinery. Several other smaller buildings were erected, which housed mint officers and staff members. The entire site was protected by a boundary wall patrolled by the Royal Mint's military guard.

By 1856, the mint was beginning to prove inefficient: there were irregularities in minted coins' fineness and weight. Instructed by Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, the Master of the Mint Thomas Graham was informed that unless the mint could raise its standards and become more economical, it would be broken up and placed under management by contractors. Graham sought advice from German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann, who in turn recommended his student George Frederick Ansell to resolve the mint's issues. In a letter to the Treasury dated 29 October 1856, Ansell was put forward as a candidate. He was appointed as a temporary clerk on 12 November 1856, with a salary of £120 per year.

Upon taking office, Ansell discovered that the weighing of metals at the mint was extremely loose. At the mint, it had been the custom to weigh silver to the nearest 0.5 ozt and gold to a pennyweight (0.05 oz); however, these standards meant losses were being made from overvalued metals. In one such case, Ansell delivered 7920.00 oz of gold to the mint, where it was weighed by an official at 7918.15 oz, a difference of 1.83 oz. Requesting a second weighing on a more accurate scale, the bullion was certified to weigh 7919.98 oz, far closer to the previous measurement, which was off by 960 grains. To increase the accuracy of weights, more precise weighing equipment was ordered, and the tolerance was revised to 0.10 oz for silver and 0.01 oz for gold. Between 1856 and 1866, the old scales were gradually removed and replaced with scales made by Messrs. De Grave, Short, and Fanner; winners of an 1862 International Exhibition prize award for work relating to balances.

Ansell also noticed a loss of gold during the manufacturing process. He found that 15 to 20 ounces could be recovered from the sweep, that is, the leftover burnt rubbish from the minting process, which was often left in open boxes for many months before being removed. Wanting to account for every particle and knowing that it was physically impossible for gold just to disappear, he put down the lost weight to a combination of oil, dust, and different types of foreign matter amongst the gold.

In 1859, the Royal Mint rejected a batch of gold found to be too brittle for the minting of gold sovereigns. Analysis revealed the presence of small amounts of antimony, arsenic and lead. With Ansell's background in chemistry, he persuaded the Royal Mint to allow him to experiment with the alloy, and was ultimately able to produce 167,539 gold sovereigns. On a second occasion in 1868, it was again discovered that gold coins, this time totalling £500,000 worth, were being produced with inferior gold. Although the standard practice at the mint was for rejected coins (known as brockages) to be melted down, many entered general circulation, and the mint was forced to return thousands of ounces of gold to the Bank of England. Although Ansell offered to re-melt the substandard coins, his offer was rejected, causing a row between him and senior mint chiefs, which ultimately led to him being removed from his position at the mint.

After the high-level practice as deputy engraver in the Royal Mint, Charles Wiener went then to Lisbon in 1864 as chief engraver to the Mint of Portugal. In 1863 he made a commemorative medal for Prince Albert (1819-1861), consort of Queen Victoria. (Victoria and Albert Museum).

Royal Mint Refinery
After relocating to its new home on Tower Hill, the Mint came under increased scrutiny of how it dealt with unrefined gold that had entered the country. The Master of the Mint had been responsible for overseeing the practice since the position's inception in the 14th century. However, the refinery process proved too costly and suffered from a lack of accountability from the master. A Royal Commission was set up in 1848 to address these issues; it recommended that the refinery process be outsourced to an external agency, thereby removing the refining process from the mint's responsibilities. The opportunity to oversee the Mint's refinery was taken up by Anthony de Rothschild, a descendant of the Rothschild family and heir to the multinational investment banking company N M Rothschild & Sons. Rothschild secured a lease from the government in January 1852, purchasing equipment and premises adjacent to the Royal Mint on 19 Royal Mint Street under the name of Royal Mint Refinery.

Colonial expansion
As Britain's influence as a world power expanded, with colonies being established abroad, a greater need for currency led to the Royal Mint opening satellite branches overseas. This need first arose in the then-Colony of New South Wales, as the black-market trade in gold during and following the 1851 Australian gold rush threatened to undermine the colony's economy. In 1851 the colony's Legislative Council sent Queen Victoria a petition seeking a local mint for Sydney, and in 1853 the Queen issued an Order in Council providing for the establishment of the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint. The Royal Mint's Superintendent of Coining travelled to Australia to oversee its establishment on Macquarie Street within the southern wing of Sydney Hospital, where it opened in 1855. Production increased quickly: assayer's notes from 29 October 1855 indicate that the mint's Bullion Office had purchased 14000 ozt of unrefined gold in the preceding week alone, and the mint's overall coin output averaged over £1,000,000 yearly in its first five years of operation. In 1868, gold sovereigns minted in Sydney were made legal tender in all British colonies, and in February 1886 they were given equal status in the UK itself.

The success of the Sydney branch led to the opening of similar branches in Melbourne and Perth, on 2 June 1872 and 20 June 1899 respectively. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901 and the establishment of a separate Australian pound in 1910, all three branches were used by the Commonwealth government to mint circulating coins for Australia. The Melbourne and Perth branches had capabilities superior to those in Sydney, and they took over production responsibilities for Australia when the Sydney branch closed after 72 years of operation at the end of 1926. Following the establishment of the Royal Australian Mint as a central mint for Australian coinage, the Melbourne and Perth mints were divested by the Royal Mint on 1 July 1970.

In Canada, which had been under British rule since 1763, British coins circulated alongside those of other nations until 1858, when London started producing coins for the newly established Canadian dollar. As Canada developed in 1890, calls were made for a mint to be built in Ottawa to facilitate the country's gold mines. The new mint was opened on 2 January 1908 by Lord Grey, producing coins for circulation, including Ottawa Mint sovereigns. In 1931, under the Statute of Westminster, the mint came under the control of the Government of Canada and was subsequently renamed the Royal Canadian Mint. A fifth branch of the Royal Mint was established in Mumbai (Bombay), India on 21 December 1917 as part of a wartime effort. It struck sovereigns from 15 August 1918 until 22 April 1919 but closed in May 1919. A sixth and final overseas mint was established in the Union of South Africa in Pretoria on 1 January 1923, producing £83,114,575 worth of sovereigns in its lifetime. As South Africa began cutting ties with Britain, the mint closed on 30 June 1941 but was later reopened as the South African Mint.

Although London's Royal Mint officially controlled just six mints, many more independent mints were set up in parts of the British Empire. At New Westminster in British Columbia, the British Columbia gold rushes led to a mint being established in 1862 by Francis George Claudet, under Governor James Douglas. It produced a few gold and silver coins before being shut down in 1862 to aid the city of Victoria in becoming the region's provincial capital. On 26 February 1864, an Order in Council requested the founding of an independent mint (Hong Kong Mint) in British Hong Kong to issue silver and bronze coins. But this mint was short-lived, due to its coins being heavily debased, causing significant losses. The site was sold to Jardine Matheson in 1868, and the mint machinery was sold to the Japanese Mint in Osaka.

1914 to 1966
In 1914, as war broke out in Europe, Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George instructed that gold coins be removed from circulation to help pay for the war effort. The government started to issue £1 and 10-shilling Treasury notes as replacements, paving the way for Britain to leave the gold standard in 1931. From 1928, the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland) issued its own coins. The Royal Mint produced these until Ireland established its own Currency Centre in Dublin in 1978.

During World War II, the Mint was important in ensuring people were paid for their services with hard currency rather than banknotes. Under Operation Bernhard, the Nazis planned to collapse the British economy by flooding the country with forged notes, leading the Bank of England to stop issuing banknotes of £10 and above. To meet these demands, the Mint doubled its output so that by 1943 it was minting around 700 million coins a year despite the constant threat of being bombed. The Deputy Master of the Mint, John Craig, recognised the dangers to the Mint and introduced several measures to ensure the Mint could continue to operate in the event of a disaster. Craig added emergency water supplies, reinforced the Mint's basement to act as an air-raid shelter and even accepted employment of women for the first time. For most of the war, the mint managed to escape most of the destruction of the Blitz, but in December 1940 three members of staff were killed in an air raid. Around the same time, an auxiliary mint was set up at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, which had been requisitioned for the war effort. Staff and machinery from Tower Hill were moved to the site, which started production in June 1941 and operated for the duration of the war. Over the course of the war, the Royal Mint was hit on several occasions, and at one point was put out of commission for three weeks. As technology changed with the introduction of electricity and demand continued to grow, the rebuilding process continued so that by the 1960s, little of the original mint remained, apart from Smirke's 1809 building and its gatehouses at the front.

Relocation to Wales

On 1 March 1966, the government announced plans to decimalise the nation's currency, thereby requiring the withdrawal and re-minting of many millions of new coins. At its current site on Tower Hill, the mint had suffered from lack of space for many years, and it would be inadequate to meet the anticipated high demand a recoinage would entail. A possible move to a more suitable site had been discussed as far back as 1870 when Deputy Master of the Mint Charles Fremantle had recommended it in his first annual report. At the time, it had been suggested that the valuable land at Tower Hill could be sold to finance the purchase of land nearby Whitefriars, London and pay for a new mint building. However, after many years of subsequent debate by parliament it had been decided that improvements could be made to the existing site at Tower Hill. With Decimal Day set for 1971, the government quickly decided where to establish the new mint.

Over twenty sites were considered, including suggestions for Scotland and Northern Ireland; however, the small Welsh town of Llantrisant, ten miles (16 km) northwest of Cardiff, was eventually chosen. Work on the new mint began in August 1967 with the construction of a blank treatment plant and a plant for striking. This first phase of the mint was formally opened on 17 December 1968 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and Prince Charles. There had been fears that the Royal family would face protests because of the Investiture of Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales; however, no such protests materialised. The second phase of construction began in 1973 and included the addition of a means to mint coins from raw metals; thus completing the full minting process. Upon completion the final cost for the land, buildings and plant came to £8 million. Coin minting gradually shifted to the new site over the next seven years, and the last coin, a gold sovereign, was struck in London in November 1975.

Financial difficulties

After moving to Wales, the mint struggled to be profitable as the Western world fell into a deep recession during the early 1970s. To combat a rising national debt, the mint was established as a trading fund on 1 April 1975, which required it to become self-financing. This measure proved successful, and the mint became more profitable through heavy exports. In April 1990, the mint became an Executive Agency; however, by 2001, the mint had reported its first annual loss: a result attributed to only securing 5% of new Euro coin production rather than the projected 20%. Despite this, the mint began diversifying its product range by offering items outside its usual coin-related merchandise. Around this time, the mint was selling different types of jewellery, commemorative plates and figurines, eventually creating its own Royal Mint Classics range of collectible goods. This part of the business proved popular in attracting new customers, but it suffered from poor product development. Its products included a hip flask with an embedded £2 coin, an Edinburgh Crystal clock combined with a millennium Crown, and a Wedgwood plate featuring Britannia. In 2007, the Mint decided to resume its focus on coins, downsizing non-coin related business and discontinuing its Classics range.

The 2008 global financial crisis was another financial blow: a rescue package costing £500 billion was announced to help stabilise Britain's banking system. This led to fears that the government would attempt to finance the cost by selling off state-owned organizations. In his 2009, pre-budget report the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling stated that the Treasury would "explore the potential benefits of alternative future models for the Royal Mint". A month later in his 2009 United Kingdom budget, he recommended that the mint be made a company with a view to it being sold.

The recommendation was met with outrage by unions and opposition parties in parliament, who called it the "selling off the family silver" and said it would result in job losses. In contrast, the chief executive of the mint, Andrew Stafford, welcomed the proposal, saying that it would lead to further growth and secure the future of the business. On 31 December 2009, rather than being fully privatised, the mint ceased to be an executive agency and its assets were vested in a limited company, Royal Mint Ltd. The owner of the new company became The Royal Mint trading fund, which itself continued to be owned by HM Treasury. As its sole shareholder, the mint pays an annual dividend of £4 million to the Treasury, with the remaining profits being reinvested into the mint. In 2015, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced a £20 billion privatisation drive to raise funds, with the Royal Mint being up for sale alongside other institutions including the Met Office and Companies House.

Revival
In 2012 The Royal Mint had a network of hundreds of UK sellers of their products. This ensured competitive pricing and availability to the UK public.

2012 London Olympics
After London was selected to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, the Royal Mint put in a successful bid to manufacture the Games' Olympic and Paralympic medals. 4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals were produced by the Mint; each medal was struck 15 times with 900 tonnes of force.

 * {| class="wikitable"

!Medal !Gold !Silver !Bronze !Weight !rowspan=3|Composition
 * +2012 Olympic medal specifications
 * 412 g
 * 412 g
 * 357 g
 * 1.34% gold 93% silver 6% copper||93% silver 7% copper||97% copper 2.5% zinc 0.5% tin
 * }

In addition to securing the medal product contract, the Mint held a competition to design a series of commemorative 50p coins that would enter general circulation before the event. The Mint received over 30,000 entries, with a further 17,000 from a children's competition on the television programme Blue Peter. In all, a total of 29 designs featuring a sport were selected by the Mint; the youngest designer was just 9 years old. A £2 coin commemorating London's handover to Rio de Janeiro was also released in 2012.

The Royal Mint Experience
In April 2014, the Mint announced plans for developing a visitor centre in Llantrisant where members of the public could go on a guided tour of the facility and learn about the mint's history. The development contract, estimated to be worth £7.7 million, was awarded to construction firm ISG and design consultant Mather & Co., who had previously designed the Norwegian Olympic Museum, as well as a handful of visitor attractions for sports clubs including Chelsea F.C., Manchester City F.C., FC Porto, and the Springboks. To fund the development, a grant of £2.3 million was provided by the Welsh Government towards the attraction which aimed to attract 200,000 visitors a year to the area. By May 2016, two years after its announcement, the attraction, designed by Rio Architects and now named Royal Mint Experience, opened to the public at a final cost of £9 million. The visitor centre includes an interactive museum, a view of the factory floor, an education centre, and a press where visitors can strike their own souvenir 50 pence coin. On display at the centre are more than 80,000 artefacts, including Olympic medals, a pattern coin of Edward VIII, a Janvier reducing machine and a selection of trial plates.

Recent events
In the same month, the mint took in 48 tonnes of silver recovered from the shipwreck of the SS Gairsoppa (torpedoed in 1941), which was used to produce limited edition coins.

In 2015, after nearly 50 years, the mint began producing its own line of bullion bars and coins under its revived Royal Mint Refinery brand. Then in 2016, the mint announced plans for Royal Mint Gold (RMG), a digital gold currency that uses blockchain to trade and invest in gold. Operated by CME Group, the technology is to be created by technology companies AlphaPoint and BitGo.

The Royal Mint, in February 2020, listed its first financial product: the Royal Mint Physical Gold Commodity Exchange-traded fund (ETF): RMAU. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse. RMAU is the first gold ETF backed 100% by the London Bullion Market Association responsible sourcing programme. Investors can also convert RMAU into coins and gold bars. The Royal Mint partnered with white label ETF firm HANetf.

Coin production
As the sole body responsible for minting legal tender coins in the United Kingdom under contract from HM Treasury, the mint produces all of the country's physical currency apart from banknotes which are printed by the Bank of England. On average, it produces two billion pound sterling coins struck for general circulation every year, with an estimated 28 billion pieces circulating altogether. Outside the UK, the mint provides services to over 60 countries, including New Zealand and many Caribbean nations, by producing national currencies or supplying ready-to-strike planchets. In 2015, it was estimated that 2.4 billion coins were minted for overseas countries, exceeding domestic coinage production and providing over 60% of the mint's revenue from circulating currencies. The Mint also regularly produces commemorative coins for the collector's market, with a range of varying quality and made of different precious metals.
 * {| class="wikitable"

! !2015 !2014 !2013
 * +Coins minted (billions)
 * United Kingdom
 * 2.007
 * 2.384
 * 1.996
 * International
 * 2.4
 * 2.2
 * 2.0
 * }
 * 2.0
 * }

Bullion
Another important operation of the mint, which contributes half the mint's revenue, is the sale of bullion to investors and the general public in the form of bars and coins. Historically, the mint refined its own metal; but following the advice of an 1848 Royal Commission, the process was separated, with the independent Royal Mint Refinery being purchased and operated by Anthony de Rothschild in 1852. The Rothschild family continued the refinery's management until it was sold to Engelhard in 1967. A year later, the Royal Mint relocated to Wales and ceased its bullion bar interests, but the brand was revived in 2015. Bullion bars produced by the mint are stamped with the original Royal Mint Refinery emblem and come in a range of sizes.
 * {| class="wikitable"

!Metal !Fineness ! colspan="7" |Weights
 * +Bullion bars
 * Silver
 * 999
 * colspan="4" bgcolor=gray|
 * 100 g
 * 500 g
 * 1 kg
 * Gold
 * 999.9
 * 1 g
 * 5 g
 * 10 g
 * 1 oz tr
 * 100 g
 * 500 g
 * 1 kg
 * Platinum
 * 999.5
 * colspan="3" bgcolor=gray|
 * 1 oz tr
 * 100 g
 * 500 g
 * 1 kg
 * }Minting of bullion coins began in 1957 to meet a demand for authentic sovereign coins, which suffered from heavy counterfeiting. Coins were released almost every year alongside proof versions up to 1982 when production of uncirculated sovereigns was discontinued, though proof examples continued to be minted. In 1987, the mint started to produce a new type of bullion coin: the gold one-ounce Britannia coin with a face value of £100. A silver version valued at £2 was also released in 1997. Production of the previously discontinued uncirculated sovereigns and half sovereigns resumed in 2000. From 2014, a lunar coin series was minted annually in celebration of the Lunar New Year; and in 2016, a series featuring The Queen's Beasts began.
 * {| class="wikitable"
 * 1 kg
 * }Minting of bullion coins began in 1957 to meet a demand for authentic sovereign coins, which suffered from heavy counterfeiting. Coins were released almost every year alongside proof versions up to 1982 when production of uncirculated sovereigns was discontinued, though proof examples continued to be minted. In 1987, the mint started to produce a new type of bullion coin: the gold one-ounce Britannia coin with a face value of £100. A silver version valued at £2 was also released in 1997. Production of the previously discontinued uncirculated sovereigns and half sovereigns resumed in 2000. From 2014, a lunar coin series was minted annually in celebration of the Lunar New Year; and in 2016, a series featuring The Queen's Beasts began.
 * {| class="wikitable"

! !Type !Face value !Diameter !Weight !Fineness !Ref.
 * +Bullion coins
 * rowspan="2" |Britannia
 * 1 oz tr silver
 * £2
 * 38.61 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999
 * 1 oz tr gold
 * £100
 * 32.69 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999.9
 * Sovereign
 * Sovereign
 * £1
 * 22.05 mm
 * 7.988 g
 * 916
 * rowspan="3" |Queen's Beasts
 * 2 oz tr silver
 * £5
 * 38.61 mm
 * 62.42 g
 * 999
 * rowspan="3" |
 * 1 oz tr gold
 * £100
 * 32.69 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999.9
 * 1 oz tr platinum
 * £100
 * 32.69 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999.5
 * rowspan="2" |Lunar Series
 * 1 oz tr silver
 * £2
 * 38.61 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999
 * rowspan="2" |
 * 1 oz tr gold
 * £100
 * 32.69 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999.9
 * Landmarks of Britain
 * 1 oz tr silver
 * £2
 * 38.61 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999
 * }
 * £100
 * 32.69 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999.9
 * Landmarks of Britain
 * 1 oz tr silver
 * £2
 * 38.61 mm
 * 31.21 g
 * 999
 * }
 * }
 * }

Medals
On occasion, the mint produces medals for government departments and under private contracts for clients such as royal societies, colleges, and universities. Most notably, the mint has made OBE medals as well as many military honours, including the Defence Medal and the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross for the British Armed Forces. For the 2012 Summer Olympics, the mint won a contract to produce 4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals for competitors.

Before 1851, the making of medals at the mint was at the discretion of engravers who could undertake the work independently and receive an additional wage. A royal patent issued in 1669 granted the mint the sole right to produce medals of any metal that bore a monarch's portrait. Engravers would use the facilities at the mint to make commemorative medals of their own design for sale. A key date in the mint's history of producing medals for the military is 1815, when the Battle of Waterloo marked the beginning of awarding military campaign medals. By 1874, the mint was responsible for making all bars and clasps for war medals in the country and was making campaign medals such as the New Zealand Medal, the Abyssinian War Medal, and the Ashantee Medal.

At the start of the First World War, military medals were manufactured by the Woolwich Arsenal and private contractors. However, in 1922, a new medal unit created by the mint became the sole manufacturer of all Royal and State medals and decorations in metal, except the Victoria Cross, which is made by Hancocks & Co. Before 2010, all British military medals were made by the mint; however, they now must compete with other manufacturers.

Trial of the Pyx
The Trial of the Pyx is a traditional procedure to test newly minted coins for conformity to required standards. The trials have been held since the 12th century, normally once per calendar year, and continue to the present day. The form of the ceremony has been essentially the same since 1282. They are trials in the full judicial sense, presided over by a judge with an expert jury of assayers. The trials have since 1871 taken place at the livery hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, having previously taken place at the Palace of Westminster. Given modern production methods, it is unlikely that coins would not conform, although this has been a problem in the past as it would have been tempting for the Master of the Mint to steal precious metals.

The term "pyx" refers to the boxwood chest (in Greek πυξίς, pyxis) in which coins were placed for presentation to the jury. There is also a Pyx Chapel (or Pyx Chamber) in Westminster Abbey, which was once used for secure storage of the Pyx and related articles.

Coins to be tested are drawn from the regular production of the Royal Mint. The Deputy Master of the Mint must, throughout the year, randomly select several thousand sample coins and place them aside for the trial. These must be a certain fixed proportion to the number of coins produced. For example, for every 5,000 bimetallic coins issued, one must be set aside, but for silver Maundy money, the proportion is one in 150.

The trial today consists of an inquiry independent of the Royal Mint.

The jury is composed of freemen of the Company of Goldsmiths, who assay the coins provided to decide whether they have been minted within the criteria determined by the relevant Coinage Acts.

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

title: Royal Mint


text:
Shaftesbury Abbey

Shaftesbury Abbey was an abbey that housed nuns in Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was founded in about 888, and dissolved in 1539 during the English Reformation by the order of Thomas Cromwell, minister to King Henry VIII. At the time it was the second-wealthiest nunnery in England, behind only Syon Abbey.

History

Alfred the Great founded the convent in about 888 and installed his daughter Æthelgifu as the first abbess. Ælfgifu, the wife of Alfred's grandson, King Edmund I, was buried at Shaftesbury and soon venerated as a saint, and she came to be regarded by the house as its true founder.

The bones of St Edward the Martyr were translated from Wareham and received at the abbey with great ceremony. The translation of the relics was overseen by St Dunstan and Ælfhere, Ealdorman of Mercia. This occurred in a great procession beginning on 13 February 981; the relics arrived at Shaftesbury seven days later. The relics were received by the nuns of the abbey and were buried with full royal honours on the north side of the altar. The account of the translation reports that on the way from Wareham to Shaftesbury, a miracle had taken place: when two crippled men were brought close to the bier and those carrying it lowered the body to their level, the cripples were immediately restored to full health. This procession and events were re-enacted 1000 years later in 1981. Reports from Shaftesbury of many other miracles said to have been obtained through Edward's intercession helped establish the abbey as a place of pilgrimage.

In 1001, it was recorded that the tomb in which St Edward lay was observed regularly to rise from the ground. King Æthelred instructed the bishops to raise his brother's tomb from the ground and place it into a more fitting place. The bishops moved the relics to a casket, placed in the holy place of the saints together with other holy relics. This elevation of the relics of Edward took place on 20 June 1001.

Shaftesbury Abbey was rededicated to the Mother of God and St Edward. Many miracles were claimed at the tomb of St Edward, including the healing of lepers and the blind. The abbey became the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England, a major pilgrimage site, and the town's central focus. A large grange, Place Farm was established at Tisbury to administer the abbey’s Wiltshire estates. William of Malmesbury, in his Gesta regum Anglorum, praised the abbey residents' "steadfast preservation of their purity" and the fervency and effectiveness of their prayers. In 1093, shortly before his election as archbishop, Anselm of Canterbury wrote a letter to Eulalia, who was abbess at the time, requesting their prayers for him; medieval scholar and historian Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis states that it demonstrates his "confidence in the promptness and solicitude" of their prayers. Anselm wrote another letter to Shaftesbury ten years later, which suggests that Eulalia had responded to him and told him that the community had granted his request for prayer; he also thanked them for their prayers for him during his exile from England and asked for their continued intercession as he returned.

In 1240 Cardinal Otto Candidus, the legate to the Apostolic See of Pope Gregory IX, visited the abbey and confirmed a charter of 1191, the first entered in the Glastonbury chartulary. Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scots was imprisoned here from October 1312 to March 1313. By 1340, the steward of the abbess swore in the town's mayor.

Dissolution
At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a common saying quoted by Bishop Thomas Fuller conjectured "if the abbess of Shaftesbury and the abbot of Glastonbury Abbey had been able to wed, their son would have been richer than the King of England" because of the lands which it had been bequeathed. It was too rich a prize for Thomas Cromwell to pass up on behalf of King Henry VIII.

In 1539, the last abbess, Elizabeth Zouche, signed a deed of surrender, the abbey was demolished, and its lands sold, leading to a temporary decline in the town. Sir Thomas Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Wardour purchased the abbey and much of the town in 1540, but when he was later exiled for treason his lands were forfeit, and the lands passed to the earl of Pembroke then to Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, and finally to the Grosvenors.

Burials

 * Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury
 * Edward the Martyr

In literature
Thomas Hardy wrote of the Abbey ruins: "Vague imaginings of its castle, its three mints, its magnificent apsidal Abbey, the chief glory of south Wessex, its twelve churches, its shrines, chantries, hospitals, its gabled freestone mansions—all now ruthlessly swept away—throw the visitor, even against his will, into a pensive melancholy which the stimulating atmosphere and limitless landscape around him can scarcely dispel."

A novel based on the dissolution of the Abbey, The Butcher's Daughter, by Victoria Glendinning was published in 2018.

Matrix is a 2021 historical novel by Lauren Groff about Abbess Mary of Shaftesbury, supposed by some historians to be the author Marie de France.

List of Abbesses
The list that follows is clearly incomplete. Unless specified, the dates given are those of mentions in the historic record.

 * Elfgiva or Æthelgeofu or Algiva, first abbess about 888
 * Ælfthrith (948)
 * Herleva (966; died 982)
 * Alfrida (1001 or 1009)
 * Leueua (in the reign of Edward the Confessor)
 * Eulalia (appointed 1074)
 * Eustachia
 * Cecilia (perhaps appointed 1107)
 * Emma
 * Mary (1189)
 * J. (elected 1216)
 * Amicia Russell (elected 1223)
 * Agnes Lungespee (elected 1243)
 * Agnes de Ferrers (elected 1247)
 * Juliana de Bauceyn (died 1279)
 * Laurentia de Muscegros (elected 1279; died 1290)
 * Joan de Bridport (elected 1290; died 1291)
 * Mabel Gifford (elected 1291,died 1302)
 * Alice de Lavyngton (elected 1302; died 1315)
 * Margaret Aucher (elected 1315, died 1329)
 * Dionisia le Blunde (elected 1329, died 1345)
 * Joan Duket (elected 1345, died 1350)
 * Margaret de Leukenore (elected 1350)
 * Joan Formage (elected 1362, died 1394)
 * Egelina de Counteville (appointed 1395)
 * Cecilia Fovent (1398, died 1423)
 * Margaret Stourton (elected 1423; died 1441). She was the sister of John Stourton (died 1438) of Preston Plucknett in Somerset, 7 times MP for Somerset, in 1419, 1420, December 1421, 1423, 1426, 1429 and 1435.
 * Edith Bonham (elected 1441; died 1460)
 * Margaret St. John (elected 1460)
 * Alice Gibbes (died 1496)
 * Margaret Twyneo (elected 1496; died 1505)
 * Elizabeth Shelford (elected 1505; died 1528)
 * Elizabeth Zouche or Zuche, elected 1529 and forced to surrender the abbey in 1539

Shaftesbury Abbey Museum
Shaftesbury Abbey Museum features stonework pieces excavated from the abbey's ruins, including Anglo-Saxon carvings and medieval floor tiles. Exhibits tell the story of the Benedictine convent and its inhabitants. The museum is open from April through October, and the site also features a medieval period garden and orchard.

The Abbey site today
The site of Shaftesbury Abbey is used to host events including open air viewings of films, drama workshops and performances, as well as historical lectures. It is also the home of the music showcase that takes place during the town's "Gold Hill Fair" in early July and provides a platform for local music.

title: Shaftesbury Abbey


text:
Aharon Kotler

Aharon Kotler (February 2, 1892 – November 29, 1962) was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania and the United States; the latter being where he founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.

Early life
Kotler was born Aharon Pines in Śvisłač, Russian Empire (historically Lithuania, now Belarus) in 1892. He was orphaned at the age of 10 and adopted by his uncle, Yitzchak Pines, a rabbinic judge in Minsk. He studied in the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania under Nosson Tzvi Finkel, and Moshe Mordechai Epstein.

Career
Kotler joined his father-in-law, Isser Zalman Meltzer, in running the yeshiva of Slutsk. After World War I, the yeshiva moved from Slutsk to Kletsk in Belarus. With the outbreak of World War II, Kotler and the yeshiva relocated to Vilna, then the major refuge of most yeshivas from the occupied areas. The smaller yeshivas followed the lead of the larger ones, and either escaped with them to Japan and China, or were arrested by the communists and sent to Siberia or Kazakhstan. Most of his students did not manage to escape and were murdered by the Nazis. He was brought to America on April 10, 1941, by the Vaad Hatzalah rescue organization, and guided it during the Holocaust. At first, he settled in New York City's Upper West Side, and in 1949, he moved to the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn.

In 1943, Kotler founded Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, with 15 students. By the time of his death in 1962, the yeshiva had grown to 250 students. He was succeeded by his son, Shneur Kotler, as rosh yeshiva (dean). As of 2011, Beth Medrash Govoha is run by his grandson, Malkiel Kotler, and three of his grandsons-in-law, Yerucham Olshin, Yisroel Neuman, and Dovid Schustal. By 2019 the yeshiva had grown into the largest institution of its kind in the United States with 6,715 students, 2,748 regular and 3,967 in Kollel status. while the surrounding Lakewood community supports a network of more than 100 other yeshivas and approximately 200 synagogues for an Orthodox population estimated at more than 66,000.

Upon the death of his father-in-law, Kotler inherited the latter's position of rosh yeshiva of Etz Chaim Yeshiva of Jerusalem. In an unusual arrangement, he held this position while continuing to live in the United States, and visiting Jerusalem occasionally. Today, his grandson, Zevulun Schwartzman, heads a kollel located at Etz Chaim Yeshiva.

Activism
Following his arrival in the United States, Kotler joined the presidium of the Vaad Hatzalah, working feverishly to save rabbis and yeshiva students who were trapped in Europe. Along with Eliezer Silver, Avraham Kalmanowitz and others, he worked day and night, using both private and government channels to try and save lives. A committed anti-Zionist, Kotler also helped establish Chinuch Atzmai, the independent religious school system in Israel, and was the chairman of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel. He chaired the Rabbinical administration board of Torah Umesorah, and was on the presidium of the Agudas HaRabbonim of the U.S. and Canada.

Some of those noted Jewish activists who supported Kotler in his efforts were Irving Bunim, Moses Feuerstein, Stephen Klein and Zev Wolfson.

Death
Kotler died at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City on November 29, 1962. A funeral service at the Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarier on Manhattan's Lower East Side drew 25,000 mourners, with 200 officers from the New York City Police Department assigned to the event. Kotler was buried in Israel on Har HaMenuchot.

Works

 * Shu"t Mishnas R' Aharon, responsa
 * Mishnas Rabbi Aharon on various tractates of the Talmud

Notable students

 * Yitzchak Abadi (born 1933), posek in Lakewood, New Jersey
 * Philip Berg (1927-2013), dean of the Kabbalah Centre
 * Shlomo Brevda (1931-2013), maggid and Vilna Gaon scholar
 * Shlomo Carlebach (musician)
 * José Faur (1934–2020), Sepharadi hakham, teacher and scholar
 * Moshe Heinemann, posek in Baltimore
 * Leib Heyman, Rav Beis Knesses HaGra, Jerusalem Israel
 * Moshe Hillel Hirsch, rosh yeshiva Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak
 * Shmuel Kamenetsky, rosh yeshiva Talmudical Academy of Philadelphia
 * Shlomo Korach (1935-2018), chief rabbi of Bnei Brak
 * Shlomo Leifer of Nadvorna
 * Shlomo Miller, rosh kollel and posek in Toronto
 * Yechiel Perr (born 1935), rosh yeshiva Yeshiva of Far Rockaway
 * Elyakim Rosenblatt, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Kesser Torah
 * Gedalia Schorr (born 1910), rosh yeshiva of Torah Vodaas
 * Meir Stern, rosh yeshiva Yeshiva Gedola of Passaic
 * Elya Svei (1924-2009), rosh yeshiva Talmudical Academy of Philadelphia
 * Yisroel Taplin, International Date Line scholar

title: Aharon Kotler


text:
Tazi

Tazi may refer to:

 * Afghan Hound or Tāzī, a hound
 * Chief Taza or Tazi, (c. 1843–1876), son of Cochise and chief of the Chiricahuas
 * Tazi, a classification of horse in the Army of the Mughal Empire
 * Tāzīg/Tāzīk/Tāzī, the word for "Arab" in Sasanian Persia

People

 * Abdallah Tazi (born 1945), Moroccan footballer
 * Abdelhadi Tazi (1921–2015), Moroccan scholar, writer, historian and former ambassador
 * Kenza Tazi (born 1996), Moroccan alpine skier

title: Tazi


text:
Talk:Ostrobothnia (historical province)

Österbotten's right name is Ostrobothnia in English. You can check it with Google if you don't believe.

Map
The map is total bollocks. -- J-V Heiskanen 15:48, 11 Mar 2004 (UTC)

The map shows some Finnish pre-war borders. Its is outdated.

 * The article is about the historical province. --Thorri 18:34, 22 Aug 2005 (UTC)
 * The map is slightly confusing, because the Karelian and Ostrobothnian border eastward are at pre-war sites, but not Lapland. (Petsamo missing). If anyone has a better map, please cange. -Islander(Scandinavia) 18:13, 7 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I believe that the original idea of the writer of articles Ostrobothnia, Nylandia, Savonia, Tavastia and Finland Proper was to make them part of Swedish historical provinces series. The map used is supposed to denote the borders of the Sweden Proper in the late17th century. At that time, Sweden was considered to consist of Götaland, Svealand and Finland. Ingermanland, Baltic provinces, German holdings, and, to lesser extent, Scania were but conquered provinces. The map in question tries to depict the borders of thus defined poper Sweden. The borders in Lapland are, of course, hypothetical as no clear borders between Norway, Russia, and Sweden existed there. Such borders were marked only in the early 19th century in a series of treaties and agreements between Swedish-Norwegian and Russian authorities. (At the same time, Russian and Finnish officials draw the border between the Grand Duchy and Russia, based mainly on the religion of the inhabitants and geographic features.) Petsamo region was not part of Finland before 1920's.
 * In my opinion, the map should be edited to mark the fluidity of the borders in the north, for example by removing the borderline and leaving only the coloured bottom. --MPorciusCato 07:24, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
 * I see what you mean. Sounds like a good idea. However, at the moment I have no references to check from, but I have a feeling that the extent of Karelia in this map is not as it was in the late 16-hundreds, but anybody who has their maps in order can comment. -Islander(Scandinavia) 20:20, 8 June 2006 (UTC)
 * The extent of Karelia in the map correponds to the peace treaty of Treaty of Tyavzino between Sweden and Russia in 1595 for the southern part and the Treaty of Stolbovo for the northern part (Province of Käkisalmi (sv. Kexholm, ru. Priozersk) . This border later formed the internal border between Finland and Ingermanland in the 17th century and, after the return of so called "Old Finland" to the Grand Duchy, the border between Russia and Grand Duchy of Finland. Between 1917-1940 it formed the border between Russia and Finland. The fluidity of the border starts only north of Oulu.--MPorciusCato 05:39, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Wow! You really know your history! I humbly confess your superior knowledge. -Islander(Scandinavia) 20:10, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

Borders
Related to the map discussion above, the notion that Ostrobothnia has land borders with Sweden is nonsense. The comment that it has a border with Vasterbotten presumably relates to period when the whole of this area was under Swedish control, and indeed Vasterbotten would be to the west, but with a significant stretch of water between the regions. David Martland (talk) 07:15, 30 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, it's a strange statement since both provinces were in Sweden. The map is also wrong since it doesn't show the historical province which also included parts of the present Swedish province Norrbotten. See for example this map Närking (talk) 08:03, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Useless
Why do we have links for "culture in Ostrobothina" and "heraldry in Ostrobothnia" when we don't have any articles for them?! They're useless! I'm going to delete them if anyone doesn't have any objections to that. --Thorri 18:33, 22 Aug 2005 (UTC)

Earliest Human?
The tools found at the 'wolf cave' site (dead link at bottom of article page) in Lappfjärd appear to have been made by neanderthals, not humans, according to this cached website: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:Gb0ieyVb5I4J:sydaby.eget.net/eng/wolf/wolf_ralf.htm+varggrottan&hl=en&client=firefox-a (the original appears to not be posted anymore, if you are interested in this topic it looks like there is a Swedish book available: ISSN 0782-3649)
 * The Neanderthals are human too! though "early humans", not modern. (All species with "Homo" in scientific name are regarded as humans, as for instance Homo Neanderthaliensis) I added a note about this. -Islander(Scandinavia) 18:13, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

A little nitpicky I guess, but I just noticed it while reading the cached website. Hello Ostrobothnians! AMB 04:12, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

Name
This is what Encyclopaedia Britannica says: ''Pohjanmaa, also called Ostrobothnia, or Ostrobothnian Plain,  Swedish  Österbotten,  lowland plain in Vaasa and Oulu läänit (provinces), western Finland. '' http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9060530

Fred-Chess 21:34, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

Explanation of the name
-"The word pohja means either "north" or "bottom", and maa is "land". In ancient Scandinavian understanding, the north was the bottom of the world, where the Sun disappeared each night. The word was associated with the cardinal direction because the houses were constructed such that the back of the house faced north, the coldest direction." Finland isn't part of Scandinavia and the meaning of the Swedish name (which differ from the Finnish) of the province isn't explained at all. This should be explained better so that it doesn't lead to misunderstandings. --80.244.79.111 (talk) 17:45, 3 November 2014 (UTC)

The Cudgel War
The article mentions that the Ostrobothnians revolted against the stationing of regular soldiers in their area. This is not quite the whole picture; what they were revolting against was having to house and feed the soldiers without reimbursement. Also, the Cudgel War was not solely a local uprising. It was partly fomented by agents of Duke Charles, the Protestant uncle of the Catholic King Sigismund, the concurrent ruler of Sweden and Poland. Charles had already wrested control of Sweden from his nephew and was seeking to add Finland to his territory. In this he eventually succeeded and was duly crowned King Charles IX of Sweden while Sigismund retained Poland. The Finnish nobility, who had sided with Sigismund, suffered for their choice.--Death Bredon (talk) 20:40, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

title: Talk:Ostrobothnia (historical province)


text:
Talk:Big5

Broken link
http://www.iijnet.or.jp/iriz/irizhtml/multling/codes.htm has gone 404. I wasn't able to find a replacement. -- Anon, July 2003

 * Thanks. Link fixed by going to http://www.iijnet.or.jp/iriz & follow the new site. --Menchi 20:17 21 Jul 2003 (UTC)

So, what *is* Big5, i.e., what characters does it map and how does it map them? The other pages on encodings seem to at least list what character ranges they can represent, and for the smaller (8-bit) ones a complete table.

... I Googled for a bit, but couldn't turn up a spec. I did find out it uses 8- or 16-bit characters. Playing with iconv seems to indicate it's a superset of ASCII. Can anybody do better?

I have added description of the coding structure. - Gniw 04:41, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Many contents in zh:大五碼 should be translated in English, and some contents here should be translated in that Chinese passage too. -Hello World! 04:28, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

Not encoding a full semantic unit is a property of DBCS?
From the article:
 * What Big5 encodes are particular graphical representations of characters or part of characters that happen to fit in the space taken by two monospaced ASCII characters. This is a property of double-byte character sets (…).

I don't think this is correct. DBCS only describes a class of encodings of alphabets (in the mathematical sense). It would be perfectly possible to conceive a DBCS encoding that associates a code with either half or a full ellipsis. Conversely, these issues are not unique to DBCS either. For instance, "…" = [ '…' ] may be the normal way to represent an ellipsis now, but in the past often dots (in this context effectively third ellipses) were used: "..." = [ '.', '.' , '.' ]. The same may apply to combinations of punctuation and a space, or others. Also characters that have to combine with other characters are not unique to DBCS. For instance when using the de facto standard Quenya or Sindarin encoding (SBCS) some codes represent tehtar; these are only intended to be used in combination with a tengwa. Shinobu 08:40, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
 * What I wrote in the article is correct. You need to understand the way the term "DBCS" is used by the Chinese/Japanese/Korean people (as opposed to the Wikipedian understanding, which might as well be historically true but meaningless for day-to-day use, at least for CJK).
 * When DBCS is used for CJK, one double-byte character is always double-width (全角 or 全形, "full width"), and one single-byte character is always single-width (半角 or 半形, "half width"). This was historically due to the way the characters are displayed on a computer/terminal screen; only DBCS character sets exhibiting such a property can be correctly handled by programs not specifically designed for CJK (i.e., users can buy American-made programs to process CJK only if single-byte characters are single-width and double-byte characters are double-width).
 * It is for this reason that the ellipsis or dash is impossible to be represented by a single DBCS character: the ellipsis or dash intrinsically spans two double-width positions.
 * Certainly what you wrote is theoretically right (and Wikipedia's DBCS article will agree with you), but it is not the way DBCS is actually used in practice.
 * Now, of course, if you use an operating system that never had a fixed-pitch legacy behind it, it is free to adopt any width to any character, single- or double-byte. Pre-OSX MacOS was such an OS.
 * I'll try to change the article to clarify what I wrote.
 * —Wing 00:30, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification. Your addition "as normally used in CJK computing" was just what was needed and the historical perspective is nice. By the way, any character set containing a mixture of single-byte and double-byte characters is called MBCS, if I'm not mistaken. Given the way Big5 works, with lead bytes and standalone bytes, it is an MBCS, I think. Shinobu 08:34, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Yes, you are right. However, such systems have always been called DBCS in the context of Chinese language processing on the PC (i.e., the need for a paired SBCS was always implicitly understood, and which SBCS should be used is also unspecified); in fact I have never heard of the term "MBCS" until about a month ago, in Wikipedia. (I'm not sure abot Japanese and Korean.) If you say MBCS, I dare say most Chinese programmers would not know what you are talking about; in spite of what Wikipedia's "DBCS" article says, the term "DBCS" has a very specific meaning for Chinese programmers and is not ambiguous at all. (This might be true for all MS-DOS programmers as well, as recent as 10 years ago—I just need to find out my Microsoft-published manual if I had not thrown it away. I am tempted to say that Wikipedia's DBCS article might be a little flaky in terms of historical accuracy as far as PC-based computing goes.)
 * If you are familiar with Unix or X11 at all, you might be aware of such confusion elsewhere: We (CJK users) always perceive fonts exhibiting the property I described as "monospaced" (for the practical reason described above), but the non-CJK people were confused and insist that such fonts are "bi-width"; this misunderstanding has been causing font display problems and is just starting to be corrected.
 * I hope I'm not too long-winded :D — Wing 03:06, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

Not at all :-) It's just that I have a thing for programming, typography and, just recently, Japanese (and lots of other things of course).

DBCS's meaning is quite unambiguous: "Double Byte Character Set". If Big5 itself specifies only two-byte combo's, then it's a DBCS; before your edits it stated that single bytes were interpreted as ASCII, thereby specifying them, making it an MBCS. (The MBCS article doesn't exist yet, which is odd since it's in general use on this side of the continent.)

I also have two other questions about the article; I'll assume Big5 doesn't specify what to do with the single bytes.
 * "In practice, Big5 cannot be used without a matching SBCS; this is mostly to do with a compatibility reason."

Sure you can: just don't use single bytes. One uses a matching SBCS because you want to use characters encoded by single bytes, no?
 * "However, as in the case of other CJK DBCS character sets, the SBCS to use has never been specified."

This follows from the fact that it's a DBCS; if it would specify what to do with single bytes (like Shift_JIS does) it would be an MBCS.

@We (CJK users) always perceive fonts exhibiting the property I described as "monospaced" (for the practical reason described above), but the non-CJK people were confused and insist that such fonts are "bi-width";: Perhaps the Chinese were confused when they (mis)applied the term. The term monospaced has only one meaning. If a font contains both non-full-width characters, it's bi-width, or even proportional. In text that's not grid-aligned Japanese kana sometimes use less space than kanji, and often Latin characters are proportional.

@this misunderstanding has been causing font display problems and is just starting to be corrected.: I know of no specific instances. Could you name a few specific examples? At least I know for a fact that for most people this hasn't been a problem since at least 1995, and possibly even earlier.

Also note that you can, strictly speaking, not use every SBCS in conjunction with Big5: Latin-1 for instance needs all possible byte values. Maybe I'll read up a bit on the different versions of Big5. Shinobu 10:59, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

 * You can try to google for “global advance” and “fontconfig”. This should return some discussion about the font display problem.

 * Regarding the accompanying SBCS, we (Big5 users) did not bother whether the whole SBCS is usable, though for Latin1 probably not much is left after subtracting Big5 lead bytes so you’re absolutely right :D Back in the old DOS days, we regularly used Code Page 437, with a big chunk of it frequently missing (not necessarily always missing, depending on the Chinese system used and depending on what follows the SBCS characters). —Wing 15:59, 18 October 2005 (UTC)

Why is it called "Big5" at all?
What's the story behind the "Big5" name? Is this an acronym? -- 20:10, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

 * I put in a sentence under "History" to answer that, as best as I could find out. Corrections welcomed. --Motley Fool 22:18, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Big5


text:
Talk:Populism

Diversifying references
It seems 50+% of the citations seem to refer to a single book by Mudde & Rovira Kaltwasser (which is itself extremely short). I noticed that somebody recently tried to change some of these citations to the original academic texts, and immediately got reverted. Having a wide range of sources is very important for verification, as well as by offering readers more directions for further research. So I think instead of shutting down such efforts, we should try and diversify the citations. Most the information in the aforementioned book is taken from existing research, so this should not be too hard. Keepcalmandchill (talk) 09:20, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

 * Im surprised this hasn't gotten more attention, the amount of references to that book almost reads as an advert Johannes.Dickenson (talk) 03:28, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Renaming section ‘mobilization’ to ‘supply-side mobilization’.
The terms ‘supply-side’ and ‘demand-side’ are used in the literature to refer to the mobilisation of populism by elite (leaders) and mass-level (supporters) actors, respectively (see for example Mudde, 2007). I suggest renaming the section so as to (1) be more accurate; and (2) allow the creation of a section for demand-side mobilization. Keepcalmandchill (talk) 10:18, 6 May 2020 (UTC)

Reversal of edits
Why have you reversed good faith edits without any explanation? Keepcalmandchill (talk) 06:54, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Because you made extensive changes with no consensus to do so. Please see WP:BRD - you made a Bold edit, I Reverted it, now please Discuss your proposed changes here before making the changes. Re-inserting the information is not the proper next step. Beyond My Ken (talk) 06:58, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
 * To be clear, I'm talking of the reversal of edits by User:Meininger22. These do not strike to me as particularly bold, and many more bold edits have been done without discussion, as clear from the mostly empty talk page. It seems like WP:BITE to me, is all Keepcalmandchill (talk) 07:07, 7 May 2020 (UTC)

Potentially useful source
This 2019 secondary source "Political Theory of Populism" (open access) might be useful in improving this article. Elysia (AR) (talk) 16:24, 18 September 2020 (UTC)

Mudde and Kaltwasser
The words "Mudde" and "Kaltwasser" have been used 214 and 203 times in the article, respectively (plus one "Kaltwaasser"). This catastrophic over-reliance is probably unique throughout the whole WP in all languages and timespans. I suspect it has reached the point of copyright violation in a handful of cases.

Bad wiki
This whole page reads like a 60 year old Conservative wrote it, it's not very impartial. It describes every trait of populist thought as a generally disproven theory, not as an actual political movement/ideology. A Conservative Saudi (talk) 19:41, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Include definition(s) in the lead
Since the definition of the term "Populism" has been recently challenged, I think it makes sense to at least include it's original (post party) and most durable definition (and perhaps other, more recent attempts to extend or invert the definition).  Sparkie82 ( t • c ) 09:22, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

Recentism and revisionism
Dear editors, if you'd like to get a feel for how recent world events have dragged the term "populism" around, just look at this revision of this article.

(I had vague recollection of editing this article before and found this revision which I touched back in 2014.)  Sparkie82 ( t • c ) 09:52, 26 October 2021 (UTC)

RfC of interest: Should the infobox of Sinn Féin list Left-wing populism as one of its ideologies?
A request for comment is taking place at Talk:Sinn Féin that may be of interest to watchers of this article. CeltBrowne (talk) 21:28, 6 September 2022 (UTC)

Economic cost
"We identify 51 populist presidents and prime ministers from 1900 to 2020 and show that the economic cost of populism is high." Benjamin (talk) 12:28, 16 September 2023 (UTC)

Extraordinary claim

 * populist figures like Italy's Beppe Grillo have been characterised as centrist and liberal

This is an extraordinary claim. Populism is not characterized by centrism, and looking at Grillo's biography page on Wikipedia, I don't see anything reflective of centrism. I believe the term may be used differently here and the sentence itself should be deleted as misleading. The secondary sources do not support the idea that Grillo is a centrist. Viriditas (talk) 22:44, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

The article is much too long
WP:TOOBIG See the word guideline. This article has over 15K words. Anna (talk) 21:21, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Impact
I think there should be a section on the impact of populism Kowal2701 (talk) 21:00, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Populism


text:
Talk:Aharon Kotler

Untitled
Reading this is a bit like reading the articles about maths subjects. The language probably is english, but the terminology is not immediately accessible. -- Cimon Avaro on a pogo-stick 15:42 21 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Need sources
Please help find sources so this article can be improved.

 * http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/kotler.htm

Joe407 (talk) 04:28, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

Links to seforim
I thought it would be very useful and relevant to have links R' Kotler's seforim:

Shu"t Mishnas R' Aharon:
 * Vol. 1
 * Vol. 2

Mishnas Rabbi Aharon on various tractates of the Talmud:
 * Nedarim
 * Shabbos and Chullin
 * Kiddushin
 * Yevamos
 * Seder Kodshim
 * Gittin

Csteffen13 removed these links, saying that they don't belong - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aharon_Kotler&diff=497092532&oldid=496335844

What do the other editors think? Yonoson3 (talk) 04:40, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

 * We can always add a few links to major works, in terms of significance. But let me ask you a question. Isaac Asimov wrote over a thousand books, some of which are so noteworthy that they have their own articles on Wikipedia. Are these books as noteworthy as the books in the selected bibliography section of that article. Debresser (talk) 16:54, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

 * Yes, they are noteworthy, as they comprise most of Kotler's primary published works.Yonoson3 (talk) 00:59, 15 August 2013 (UTC)

title: Talk:Aharon Kotler