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Flagellant

Flagellants are practitioners of a form of mortification of the flesh by whipping their skin with various instruments of penance. Many Christian confraternities of penitents have flagellants, who beat themselves, both in the privacy of their dwellings and in public processions, to repent of sins and share in the Passion of Jesus.

In the 14th century, a movement within Western Christianity known as Flagellantism became popular and adherents "began beating their flesh in a public penitential ritual in response to war, famine, plague and fear engendered by millenarianism." Though this movement withered away, the practices of public repentance and promoting peace were adopted by the flagellants in Christian, especially Roman Catholic, confraternities of penitents that exist to the present-day.

History
Flagellation (from Latin flagellare, to whip) was quite a common practice amongst the more fervently religious throughout antiquity. The practice became popular in 1260 thanks to the example of Blessed Raniero Fasani of Perugia a saintly hermit who began scourging himself publicly after receiving an apparition of the Virgin Mary and St. Bevignate who told him to start preaching penance for sins and to establish peace. He attracted followers and the movement grew in popularity throughout Italy and the rest of Europe.

Christianity has formed a permanent tradition surrounding the doctrine of mortification of the flesh, ranging from self-denial, wearing hairshirts and chains, fasting and self-flagellation using the discipline. Those who practice self-flagellation claim that St. Paul's statement in the Bible ‘I chastise my body’ refers to self-inflicted bodily scourging. There are prominent Christians who have practiced self-flagellation. Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, self-flagellated among other ascetic practices during his early years as an Augustinian friar (although he later condemned such practices). Likewise, the Congregationalist writer Sarah Osborn also practiced self-flagellation in order "to remind her of her continued sin, depravity, and vileness in the eyes of God". It became "quite common" for members of the Tractarian movement within the Anglican Communion to practice self-flagellation using a discipline.

Historically speaking, in the 11th century, Peter Damian, a Benedictine monk in the Roman Catholic tradition, taught that spirituality should manifest itself in physical discipline; he admonished those who sought to follow Christ to practice self-flagellation for the duration of the time it takes one to recite forty Psalms, increasing the number of flagellations on holy days of the liturgical calendar. For Damian, only those who shared in the sufferings of Christ could be saved. Throughout Christian history, the mortification of the flesh, wherein one denies physical pleasures, has been commonly followed by members of the clergy, especially in Christian monasteries and convents; the 11th-century Dominicus Loricatus repeated the entire Psalter twenty times in one week, accompanying each psalm with a hundred lash-strokes to his back. The distinction of the Flagellants was to take this self-mortification into the cities and other public spaces as a demonstration of piety.

Flagellantism
Flagellantism was a 14th-century movement, consisting of penitents in the Catholic Church. It began as a Christian pilgrimage and was later condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical. The followers were noted for including public flagellation in their rituals. This was a common practice during the Black Death, or the Great Plague.

Spread in the 14th century
The first recorded incident was in Central Italy in Perugia, in 1259, the year after severe crop damage and famine throughout Europe. From Perugia the phenomenon seemed to spread across Northern Italy and into Austria. Other incidents are recorded in 1296, 1333-34 (the Doves), notably at the time of the Black Death (1349), and 1399. The practice peaked during the Black Death. Spontaneously Flagellant groups arose across Northern and Central Europe in 1349, including in England.

Initially the Catholic Church tolerated the Flagellants and individual monks, friars and priests joined in the early movements. By the 14th century, the Church was less tolerant and the rapid spread of the movement was alarming. Clement VI officially condemned them in a bull of October 20, 1349 and instructed Church leaders to suppress the Flagellants. This position was reinforced in 1372 by Gregory XI who associated the Flagellants with other heretical groups, notably the Beghards, and instructed inquisitors to eradicate them. They were accused of heresies including doubting the need for the sacraments, denying ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction and claiming to work miracles. In 1392, a sect of Flagellants and Beghards, consisting of peasants, were found throughout Swabia and Wurzburg. The papal inquisitor imposed the penance of preaching and joining a crusade against the Ottoman Turks.

The Inquisition was active against any revival of the movement in the 15th century, but action against the flagellants was often taken by the local princes. In 1414, 80–90 followers of Konrad Schmid were burned in Thuringia, in Germany, even though they had recanted. Three hundred were burnt in one day in 1416, also in Thuringia. Other trials where the accused were condemned as Flagellants were recorded as late as the 1480s. The practice of flagellation within the bounds of the Catholic Church continued as an accepted form of penance.

Rulers like Catherine de' Medici and France's King Henry III supported Flagellants but Henry IV banned them. Flagellant orders like Hermanos Penitentes (Spanish 'Penitential Brothers') also appeared in colonial Spanish America, even against the specific orders of Church authorities.

In Italy
The first recorded cases of mass popular flagellation occurred in Perugia, in 1259. The prime cause of the Perugia episode is unclear, but it followed an outbreak of an epidemic and chroniclers report how mania spread throughout almost all the people of the city. Thousands of citizens gathered in great processions, singing and with crosses and banners, they marched throughout the city whipping themselves. It is reported that surprising acts of charity and repentance accompanied the marchers. However, one chronicler noted that anyone who did not join in the flagellation was accused of being in league with the devil. They also killed Jews and priests who opposed them. Marvin Harris links them to the Messianic preaching of Gioacchino da Fiore.

Similar processions occurred across Northern Italy, with groups of up to 10,000 strong processing in Modena, Bologna, Reggio and Parma. Although certain city authorities refused the Flagellant processions entry.

A similar movement arose again in 1399, again in Northern Italy in the form of the White Penitents or Bianchi movement. This rising is said to have been started by a peasant who saw a vision. The movement became known as the laudesi from their constant hymn singing. At its peak, a group of over 15,000 adherents gathered in Modena and marched to Rome, but the movement rapidly faded when one of its leaders was burned at the stake by order of Boniface IX.

In Germany
The German and Low Countries movement, the Brothers of the Cross, is particularly well documented - they wore white robes and marched across Germany in 33.5 day campaigns (each day referred to a year of Jesus's earthly life) of penance, only stopping in any one place for no more than a day. They established their camps in fields near towns and held their rituals twice a day. The ritual began with the reading of a letter, claimed to have been delivered by an angel and justifying the Flagellants' activities. Next, the followers would fall to their knees and scourge themselves, gesturing with their free hands to indicate their sin and striking themselves rhythmically to songs, known as Geisslerlieder, until blood flowed. Sometimes the blood was soaked up in rags and treated as a holy relic. Originally members were required to receive permission to join from their spouses and to prove that they could pay for their food. However, some towns began to notice that sometimes Flagellants brought plague to towns where it had not yet surfaced. Therefore, later they were denied entry. They responded with increased physical penance.

Roman Catholicism
Modern processions of hooded Flagellants are still a feature of various Mediterranean Christian countries, mainly in Italy, Spain and some of its former colonies such as the Philippines, usually every year during Lent and intensify during Holy Week. For example, in the comune of Guardia Sanframondi in Campania, such parades are organized once every seven years. In Italy, members of the Flagellant movement were called disciplinati, while laudesi never practiced flagellation, but met together in their own chapel to sing laudi (canticles) in honour of the Blessed Virgin, but which gradually assumed a dramatic form and grew into a theatrical form known as rappresentazioni sacre. A play in the Roman dialect of the 14th century, edited by Vattasso (Studi e Testi, no. 4, p. 53), explicitly bears the title lauda.

In the Philippines, some practice penitential flagellation and have themselves briefly crucified, at times in fulfilment of a panatà (sacred vow) made to God. Both customs are deemed as heterodox acts of penance by the Church in the Philippines, whose episcopate have condemned repeatedly. Los hermanos penitentes (English: “The penitent brothers”) is a semi-secret society of flagellants among Hispanic Roman Catholics in the American states of Colorado and New Mexico.

Other religions
Unrelated practices exist in non-Christian traditions, including actual flagellation amongst some Shiites whom were converted by the Qizilbash (commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali).

title: Flagellant


text:
Italian Communist Party

The Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was founded in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (Partito Comunista d'Italia, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), under the leadership of Amadeo Bordiga, Antonio Gramsci, and Nicola Bombacci. Outlawed during the Italian fascist regime, the party continued to operate underground and played a major role in the Italian resistance movement. The party's peaceful and national road to socialism, or the Italian road to socialism, the realisation of the communist project through democracy, repudiating the use of violence and applying the Constitution of Italy in all its parts, a strategy inaugurated under Palmiro Togliatti but that some date back to Gramsci,  would become the leitmotif of the party's history.

Having changed its name in 1943, the PCI became the second largest political party of Italy after World War II, attracting the support of about a third of the vote share during the 1970s. At the time, it was the largest Communist party in the Western world, with peak support reaching 2.3 million members in 1947, and peak share being 34.4% of the vote (12.6 million votes) in the 1976 Italian general election. The PCI was part of the Constituent Assembly of Italy and the Italian government from 1944 to 1947, when the United States ordered a removal from government of the PCI and PSI. The PCI–PSI alliance lasted until 1956; the two parties continued to govern at the local and regional level until the 1990s. Apart from the 1944–1947 years and occasional external support to the Organic centre-left (1960s–1970s), which included the PSI, the PCI always remained at the opposition in the Italian Parliament, with more accommodation as part of the Historic Compromise of the 1970s, which ended in 1980, until its dissolution in 1991, not without controversy and much debate among its members.

The PCI included Marxist–Leninists and Marxist revisionists, with a notable social-democratic faction being the miglioristi. Under the leadership of Enrico Berlinguer and the influence of the miglioristi in the 1970s and 1980s, Marxism–Leninism was removed from the party statute. The PCI adhered to the Eurocommunist trend that sought independence from the Soviet Union, and moved into a democratic socialist direction. In 1991, it was dissolved and re-launched as the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS), which joined the Socialist International and the Party of European Socialists. The more radical members of the organisation formally seceded to establish the Communist Refoundation Party (PRC).

Early years

The roots of the PCI date back to 1921, when the I Congress of the Communist Party of Italy was held in Livorno on 21 January, following a split in the XVII Congress of the Italian Socialist Party. The split occurred after the Congress of Livorno refused to expel the reformist group as required by the Communist International (Comintern). The main factions of the new party were L'Ordine Nuovo, based in Turin and led by Antonio Gramsci, and the Maximalist faction led by Nicola Bombacci. Amadeo Bordiga was elected secretary of the new party.

The party was officially founded as the Communist Party of Italy – Section of the Communist International (Partito Comunista d'Italia – Sezione dell'Internazionale Comunista), since the Comintern was structured as a single world party according to Vladimir Lenin's vision. In the 1921 Italian general election, the party obtained 4.6% of the vote and 15 seats in the country's Chamber of Deputies. At the time, it was an active yet small faction within the Italian political left, which was strongly led by the PSI, while on the international level it was Soviet-led.

During its 2nd Congress in 1922, the new party registered 43,000 members. This was in part due to the entrance of almost the whole Socialist Youth Federation (Federazione Giovanile Socialista). The party adopted a slim structure headed by a Central Committee of 15 members, five of whom were also in the Executive Committee (EC), namely Ambrogio Belloni, Nicola Bombacci, Amadeo Bordiga (EC), Bruno Fortichiari (EC), Egidio Gennari, Antonio Gramsci, Ruggero Grieco (EC), Anselmo Marabini, Francesco Misiano, Giovanni Parodi, Luigi Polano, Luigi Repossi (EC), Cesare Sessa, Ludovico Tarsia, and Umberto Terracini (EC).

Since its formation, the party strived to organise itself on some bases that were not a mere reproduction of the traditional parties' bases. It then took again some arguments that distinguished the battle within the PSI, namely the idea that it is necessary to form an environment fiercely hostile to bourgeois society and that is an anticipation of the future socialist society. The purpose of this was not considered utopian because already in this society, especially in production, some structures are born on future results. In the first years of the PCd'I, there was no official leader; the accepted leader, first of the faction/tendency and then of the party, was Bordiga (Left) of the communist left current. Leaders of the minority currents were Angelo Tasca (Right) and Gramsci (Centre).

Conflict between factions
As a territorial section of Comintern, the PCd'I adopted the same program, the same conception of the party and the same tactics adopted by the II Congress in Moscow of 1920. The official program, drawn up in ten points, began with the intrinsically catastrophic nature of the capitalist system and terminated with the extinction of the state. It follows in a synthetic way the model outlined by Lenin for the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). For a while, this identity resisted, but the fast progress of the reaction in Europe produced a change of tactics in a democratic direction within the Bolshevik party and consequently within the Comintern. This happened in particular regarding the possibility, previously opposed, of an alliance with the social democratic and bourgeois parties. This provoked a tension in the party between the majority (Left) and the minority factions (the Right and the Centre) supported by the Comintern. The proposals of the Left were no longer accepted and the conflict between the factions became irremediable.

Bolshevisation
In 1923, some members of the party were arrested and put on trial for "conspiracy against the State". This allowed the intense activity of the Communist International to deprive the party's left-wing of authority and give control to the minority centre which had aligned with Moscow. In 1924–1925, the Comintern began a campaign of Bolshevisation, which forced each party to conform to the discipline and orders of Moscow. During the clandestine conference held in Como to ratify the party leadership in May 1924, 35 of the 45 federation secretaries, plus the secretary of the youth federation, voted for Bordiga's Left, four for Gramsci's Centre, and five for Tasca's Right.

Before the Lyon Congress in 1926, the Centre won almost all the votes in the absence of much of the Left, who were unable to attend as a result of fascist controls and lack of Comintern support. Recourse to the Comintern against this evident manoeuvre had little effect. The PCd'I as conceived by the Left terminated. The organisation continued with the support of the Comintern and a new structure and leadership. In 1922, the newspaper L'Ordine Nuovo was closed and in 1924 a new Centre newspaper, l'Unità, edited by Gramsci, was founded. The Left continued as a faction, principally functioning in exile. It published the newspaper Bilan, a monthly theoretical bulletin.

In 1926, Bordiga and Gramsci were arrested and imprisoned on the island of Ustica. In 1927, Palmiro Togliatti was elected secretary in place of Gramsci. In 1930, Bordiga was expelled from the Comintern and accused of Trotskyism. After Joseph Stalin dissolved the Communist International in 1943, the exiled members of the PCd'I in Moscow changed the party's name to the PCI on 15 May. Under this name, it reorganised in Italy and became a parliamentary party after the fall of Fascism.

Resistance to fascism
The party and its militants were actively involved in the resistance to Benito Mussolini's regime through clandestine action. They were well prepared for clandestine activity because of the structure of their organisation, and the fact that they had been victims of systematic repression by the authorities; more than three quarters of the political prisoners between 1926 and 1943 were communists. Throughout the dictatorship, the party was able to maintain and feed a clandestine network, distribute propaganda leaflets and newspapers, and infiltrate fascist unions and youth organisations. In 1935, the party led a campaign against the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The party and communist partisans, among others, then went on to play a major role in the resistance movement that led to the fall of the Fascist regime in Italy.

On 15 May 1943, the party changed its official name to the Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano), often shortened to PCI. This change was not surprising as PCI started being used as the party's acronym around 1924–1925. This name change also reflected a change in the Comintern's role—it increasingly became a federation of national communist parties. This trend accelerated after Lenin's death and its new name emphasised the party's shift from an international focus to an Italian one. At the time, it was a hotly contested issue for the two major factions of the party. On one side, the Leninist preferred the single world party as it was internationalist and strongly centralised, while on the other side the Italians wanted a party more tailored to their nation's peculiarities and more autonomy.

After the fall of Fascist Italy on 25 July 1943, the PCI returned to a formally legal status, playing a major role during the national liberation, known in Italy as Resistenza (Resistance) and forming many partisan groups. In April 1944, after the Svolta di Salerno (Salerno's turning point), Togliatti, who had returned to Italy the month prior after 18 years of exile, agreed to cooperate with King Victor Emmanuel III and his prime minister of Italy, the Marshal Pietro Badoglio. After the turn, the PCI took part in every government during the national liberation and constitutional period from June 1944 to May 1947. Their contribution to the new Italian democratic constitution was decisive. The Gullo decrees of 1944, named after Fausto Gullo, sought to improve social and economic conditions in the countryside. During Badoglio and Ferruccio Parri's cabinets, Togliatti served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Italy. During the Resistance, the PCI became increasingly popular, as the majority of partisans were communists. The Garibaldi Brigades, promoted by the PCI, were among the more numerous partisan forces.

Post-war years
The PCI took part in the 1946 Italian general election and the 1946 Italian institutional referendum, campaigning for a republic. In the election, the PCI was third, behind Christian Democracy (DC) and the PSI, gaining almost 19% of votes and electing 104 members of the Constituent Assembly of Italy. The popular referendum resulted in the replacement of the monarchy with a republic, after 54% of the votes were in favour and 46% against. Luciano Canfora saw the Salerno Turn and 1944 as a rebirth of the PCI, and said "the PCI had gradually followed a path which required it, as a historical task, to occupy the space of social democracy in the Italian political panorama."

As part of the May 1947 crises, the PCI was excluded from government. Alcide De Gasperi, the DC leader and prime minister of Italy, was losing popularity, and feared that the leftist coalition would take power. While the PCI was growing particularly fast due to its organising efforts supporting sharecroppers in Sicily, Tuscany, and Umbria, movements that were also bolstered by the reforms of Fausto Gullo, the Italian Minister of Agriculture. On 1 May, the nation was thrown into crisis by the Portella della Ginestra massacre, in which eleven leftist peasants (including four children) were murdered at an International Workers' Day parade in Palermo by Salvatore Giuliano and his gang. In the political chaos that ensued, the United States government engineered the expulsion of all left-wing ministers from the cabinet on 31 May. The PCI would not have a national position in government again. De Gasperi did this under pressure from the United States Secretary of State, George Marshall, who had informed him that anti-communism was a pre-condition for receiving American aid, and Ambassador James Clement Dunn, who had directly asked de Gasperi to dissolve the parliament and remove the PCI.

In the 1948 Italian general election, the party joined the PSI in the Popular Democratic Front (FDP) but was defeated by the DC. The United States government provided support to anti-PCI groups in the election, and argued that should the PCI win, the Marshall Plan and other aids could be terminated. It spent $10–20 million on anti-communist propaganda and other covert operations, much of it through the Economic Cooperation Administration of the Marshall Plan, and then laundered through individual banks. Fearful of the possible FDP's electoral victory, the British and American governments also undermined their campaign for legal justice by tolerating the efforts made by Italy's top authorities to prevent any of the alleged Italian war criminals from being extradited and taken to court. The denial of Italian war crimes was backed up by the Italian state, academe, and media, re-inventing Italy as only a victim of Nazism and the post-war Foibe massacres.

The party gained considerable electoral success during the following years and occasionally supplied external support to the Organic centre-left governments, although it never directly joined a government. It successfully lobbied Fiat to set up the AvtoVAZ (Lada) car factory in the Soviet Union (1966). The party did best in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Umbria, where it regularly won the local administrative elections, and in some of the industrialised cities of Northern Italy. At the city government level during the course of the post-war period, the PCI demonstrated in cities like Bologna and Florence their capacity for uncorrupt, efficient and clean government. After the 1975 Italian local elections, the PCI was the strongest force in nearly all of the municipal councils of the great cities.

From the 1950s to the 1960s
The Soviet Union's brutal suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 created a split within the PCI. The party leadership, including Palmiro Togliatti and Giorgio Napolitano (who in 2006 became President of Italy), regarded the Hungarian insurgents as counter-revolutionaries as reported at the time in l'Unità, the official PCI newspaper. Giuseppe Di Vittorio, chief of the communist trade union Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL), repudiated the leadership position, as did prominent party member Antonio Giolitti and Italian Socialist Party national secretary Pietro Nenni, a close ally of the PCI. Napolitano later hinted at doubts over the propriety of his decision. He would eventually write in ''From the Communist Party to European Socialism. A Political Autobiography (Dal Pci al socialismo europeo. Un'autobiografia politica'') that he regretted his justification of the Soviet intervention but quieted his concerns at the time for the sake of party unity and the international leadership of Soviet Communism. Giolitti and Nenni went on to split with the PCI over this issue. Napolitano became a leading member of the miglioristi faction within the PCI that promoted a social-democratic direction in party policy.

In the mid-1960s, the United States Department of State estimated the party membership to be approximately 1,350,000, or 4.2% of the working age population, making it the largest Communist party in per capita terms in the capitalist world at the time and the largest party at all in the whole of Western Europe with the Social Democratic Party of Germany. United States government sources said that the party was receiving $40–50 million per year from the Soviets when their investment in Italy was $5–6 million. Although the PCI relied on Soviet financial assistance more than any other Communist party supported by Moscow, declassified information shows this to be exaggerated.

According to the former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin, Longo and other PCI leaders became alarmed at the possibility of a coup in Italy after the Athens Colonel coup in April 1967 that led to the Greek junta. These fears were not completely unfounded as there had been two attempted coups in Italy, Piano Solo in 1964 and Golpe Borghese in 1970, by military and neo-fascist groups. The PCI's Giorgio Amendola formally requested Soviet assistance to prepare the party in case of such an event. The KGB drew up and implemented a plan to provide the PCI with its own intelligence and clandestine signal corps. From 1967 through 1973, PCI members were sent to East Germany and Moscow to receive training in clandestine warfare and information gathering techniques by both the Stasi and the KGB. Shortly before the 1972 Italian general election, Longo personally wrote to Leonid Brezhnev asking for and receiving an additional $5.7 million in funding. This was on top of the $3.5 million that the Soviet Union gave the PCI in 1971. The Soviets also provided additional funding through the use of front organisations providing generous contracts to PCI members.

Leadership of Enrico Berlinguer
In 1969, Enrico Berlinguer, the PCI deputy national secretary and later secretary general, took part in the international conference of the Communist parties in Moscow, where his delegation disagreed with the official political line and refused to support the final report. Unexpectedly to his hosts, his speech challenged the Communist leadership in Moscow. He refused to excommunicate the Chinese Communists and directly told Brezhnev that the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, which he called "the tragedy in Prague", had made clear the considerable differences within the Communist movement on fundamental questions, such as national sovereignty, socialist democracy, and the freedom of culture. At the time, the PCI, which had absorbed the PSI's left-wing, the Italian Socialist Party of Proletarian Unity, so strengthening its leadership over the Italian left, was the largest Communist party in a capitalist state, garnering 34.4% of the vote in the 1976 Italian general election.

Relationships between the PCI and the Soviet Union gradually fell apart as the party moved away from Soviet obedience and Marxist–Leninist orthodoxy in the 1970s and 1980s and toward Eurocommunism and the Socialist International. The PCI sought a collaboration with the Socialist and Christian Democracy parties, a policy known the Historic Compromise. The kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, the DC leader, by the Red Brigades in May 1978 put an end to any hopes of such a compromise. The compromise was largely abandoned as a PCI policy in 1981. The Proletarian Unity Party merged into the PCI in 1984.

During the Years of Lead, the PCI strongly opposed the terrorism and the Red Brigades, who in turn murdered or wounded many PCI members or trade unionists close to the PCI. According to Mitrokhin, the party asked the Soviets to pressure the StB, Czechoslovakia's State Security, to withdraw their support to the group, which Moscow was unable or unwilling to do. This, along with the Soviet invasion of Afganhistan, led to a complete break with Moscow in 1979. In 1980, the PCI refused to participate in the international conference of Communist parties in Paris; cash payments to the PCI continued until 1984.

Dissolution
Achille Occhetto became general secretary of the PCI in 1988. At a 1989 conference in a working-class section of Bologna, Occhetto stunned the party faithful with a speech heralding the Revolutions of 1989, a move now referred to in Italian politics as the svolta della Bolognina (Bolognina turning point). The collapse of the Communist governments in the Eastern Europe led Occhetto to conclude that the era of Eurocommunism was over. Under his leadership, the PCI dissolved and refounded itself as the Democratic Party of the Left, which branded itself as a progressive left-wing and democratic socialist party. A third of the PCI membership, led by Armando Cossutta, refused to join the PDS, and instead seceded to form the Communist Refoundation Party.

Popular support
In all its history, the PCI was particularly strong in Central Italy, in the Red Regions of Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Tuscany, and Umbria, as well as in the industrialised cities of Northern Italy. The party's municipal showcase was Bologna, which was held continuously by the PCI from 1945 onwards. Amongst other measures, the local PCI administration tackled urban problems with successful programmes of health for the elderly, nursery education and traffic reform, while also undertaking initiatives in housing and school meal provisions.

Communist administrations at a local level helped to aid new businesses while also introducing innovative social reforms. From 1946 to 1956, the Communist city council built 31 nursery schools, 896 flats, and 9 schools. Health care improved substantially, street lighting was installed, new drains and municipal launderettes were built and 8,000 children received subsidised school meals. In 1972, the then-mayor of Bologna, Renato Zangheri, introduced a new and innovative traffic plan with strict limitations for private vehicles and a renewed concentration on cheap public transport. Bologna's social services continued to expand throughout the early and mid-1970s. The city centre was restored, centres for the mentally sick were instituted to help those who had been released from recently closed psychiatric hospitals, handicapped persons were offered training and found suitable jobs, afternoon activities for schoolchildren were made less mindless than the traditional doposcuola (after-school activities), and school programming for the whole day helped working parents.

The electoral results of the PCI in general (Chamber of Deputies) and European Parliament elections since 1946 are shown in the chart above.

Leadership

 * Secretary: Antonio Gramsci (1926), Camilla Ravera (1927–1930), Palmiro Togliatti (1930–1934), Ruggero Grieco (1934–1938), Palmiro Togliatti (1938–1964), Luigi Longo (1964–1972), Enrico Berlinguer (1972–1984), Alessandro Natta (1984–1988), Achille Occhetto (1988–1991)
 * President: Luigi Longo (1972–1980), Alessandro Natta (1989–1990), Aldo Tortorella (1990–1991)
 * Leader in the Chamber of Deputies: Luigi Longo (1946–1947), Palmiro Togliatti (1947–1964), Pietro Ingrao (1964–1972), Alessandro Natta (1972–1979), Fernando Di Giulio (1979–1981), Giorgio Napolitano (1981–1986), Renato Zangheri (1986–1990), Giulio Quercini (1990–1991)
 * Leader in the Senate: Mauro Scoccimarro (1948–1958), Umberto Terracini (1958–1973), Edoardo Pema (1973–1986), Gerardo Chiaromonte (1983–1986), Ugo Pecchioli (1986–1991)
 * Leader in the European Parliament: Giorgio Amendola (1979–1980), Guido Fanti (1980–1984), Giovanni Cervetti (1984–1989), Luigi Alberto Colajanni (1989–1991)

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

title: Italian Communist Party


text:
Talk:Kingdom of Sweden (800–1521)

[Untitled]
Todo list:

Break up section "Christianization and struggle for power" into smaller section. May need to polish up the wordings too.

Fred-J 16:00, September 3, 2005 (UTC)

Under the headline Chistianity, there is written that under Olof Skötkonung was christianity fully established in Sweden, which I doubt.

I you read furhter down in the text, you will find the sentence "both the Westgotar and the Upland Svear were discontented, the former on account of the breaking of the king’s promise to Olaf II of Norway and the latter on account of the introduction of the new religion".

Note: the new religion.

Especially in Eastern Sweden, christianity was by no means fully established in this time, and infact Olof Skötkonung not only had to rule Sweden with his brother, he was driven from East Sweden to Västergötland where he spend the rest of his life. Dan Koehl 16:31 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Name change
I wonder which kingdoms, this article refers to. Is it Sweden/Svealand and Götaland, or is to the small constituent petty kingdoms that are mentioned in the Norse sagas? I suggest this article be renamed early history of Sweden or be split into two articles, one called prehistory and one on medieaval history.--Wiglaf 12:33, 9 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * I think the intro gives it as Svealand & Götaland? My own knowledge (small as it may be) is that Sweden was two countries / kingdoms and I think this is also considered "most" notable by the authors.
 * I have no problem with splitting them up if you want to do it.
 * --Fred-J 04:46, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Yet another question of English vs. the original
To all these who speak Nordic languages, what does "Hardrada" mean? Nothing at all? Either the king should be named with his original nickname (harðráði), his Norwegian nickname (Hårdråde?) or an English translation. "Hardrada" is an abomination. 130.208.193.99 17:50, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

 * His name is now linked in the text anyways. This text is about 100 years old (see bottom of article) and represents the English terms at that time. Improvements may be necessary to reflect the used terms today, but need proofs before changing. Fred-J 21:50, August 28, 2005 (UTC)

revert stuff
Ghirlandajo seems as though he does not like the term "Swedes" be used. I myself also think it is confusing to mix Svear with Svenskar. Wiglaf, is there no better translation for Svear?

Fred-J 15:56, August 30, 2005 (UTC)

 * Unfortunately there is not a better name for svear. Swedes is the conventional name for svear in English and the name you will find in most English language books on Vikings in Russia.--Wiglaf 16:11, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

"Swedish conquerors"??
The section alleging the Swedish conquest of Russia is ridiculous. The only source to mention Rurik, etc is the Primary Chronicle written some quarter a millenium later by a pro-Scandinavian scribe and using Scandinavian sagas as his source. He actually mistranslated two Norse words as the names of Rurik's brothers, Sineus and Truvor. But even this faulted source describes invitation of foreign princes in a way redolent of folklore of other Slavic tribes, e.g., Obodrites. The archaeological excavations of Ladoga and other Varangian sites unearthed boats, pottery, utensils, etc identical to those discovered at Haithabu. Historically, the early Rurikids maintained close ties with Norway rather than with Sweden, four Norwegian konungs having found refuge in Novgorod during the troubles at home. I fail to see how the alleged "Swedish conquerors" fit in here. --Ghirlandajo 11:51, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Finally, Wiglaf obligingly cited a pertinent passage from the Primary Chronicle: ''There was no law among them, and tribe rose against tribe. Discord thus ensued among them, and they began to war one against the other. They said to themselves, "Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to custom. Thus they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rus. These particular Varangians were known as Rus, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, for they were thus named.'' - It is clear from this passage that the Rus were different from the Suiones. --Ghirlandajo 11:51, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

 * I believe that you have misunderstood the purpose of Wikipedia. This is not the place to present your understanding of this history, it is called original research and it is verboten. You should state what the scholarly opinions are, and if you can quote a number of western scholars who consider the Rus to have come from Hedeby, go ahead and quote them. In the meanwhile you are only trying to impose your own speculations. FYI, suiones (the modern "swedes") was a generic name for several tribes and the use of the term varied according to context. The Roþs-byggjar (modern Rospiggar) were one of these Swedish tribes.--Wiglaf 12:27, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Actually, I stick to the scant sources we have and you fill the Wiki with your personal speculations and wishful thinking. As Rurik's story is obscure, I vote for removing all mention of Kievan Rus from the article on Swedish history altogether. But you insist on promoting your POV nationslism and the fables about "Swedish conquest of Russia" at the time when there were neither Sweden, nor Russia, let alone conquest.
 * As for opinion of "Western scholars" on the subject, it is actually irrelevant, as they haven't been particularly interested or/and competent in early Russian history and they haven't excavated Varangian settlements in Russia. Of all western scholars, I'm aware of George Vernadsky only, who declared in favour of Rurik's identification with Rorik of Haithabu . Russian scholars discussing the subject are too numerous to mention, you may find all necessary references at, , , , , etc. --Ghirlandajo 12:56, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * At least try to be honest. You do NOT stick to the scant sources that exist, you claim that they are wrong.--Wiglaf 15:02, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately Russia has a creative tradition when history is concerned, and so I think we should stick to Western sources. Moreover, Russian excavation methodology considers a Scandinavian grave to be of "uncertain origin" if a Slavic pin can be found in the grave, with the purpose of making the Scandinavian graves as few as possible. Interestingly, I know a Russian who told me that they had to add Slavic objects to Scandinavian finds when excavating in Gnezhdovo.--Wiglaf 15:02, 31 August 2005 (UTC)
 * You are also wrong in your claims of closer connections between the Rus' and Norway. A man from Kievan Rus' was even elected king of Sweden due to his dynastic connections (but not of Norway).--Wiglaf 12:30, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

 * It is also interesting to note that you consider the chroniclers to be lacking knowledge about Russian history whereas you consider them to be experts on Scandinavian ethnicities. This is an odd methodological inconsequence.--Wiglaf 12:50, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

 * Moreover, you are also in error in claiming that the text does not cite its sources. If you can bother to look at the bottom of the article, you'll see that it does.--Wiglaf 12:53, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Adam of Bremen on the House of Hedeby
OK, I will not revert this time, but you should know that Adam of Bremen is not an authority on matters of mediaeval genealogy at all. I suspect that this long-discarded info comes from one of the much later scholias, which the reputable historians normally discredit. I will be back after checking this point. --Ghirlandajo 15:54, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

The Hedeby connection
Ghirlandajo insists on writing Most non-Swedish scholars uphold that the princes invited by the population of Ladoga stemmed from the royal house of Haithabu. This is simply wrong and I don't understand why Ghirlandajo insists on writing this. If there is such a consensus, he should be able to give a lot of references.--Wiglaf 10:00, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Nationalist/old fashioned view of Swedish history
The text reads:

"Finally, on his death in 1470, the three kingdoms were reunited under Christian II of Denmark, the prelates and higher nobility of Sweden being favourable to the union, though the great majority of the Swedish people always detested it as a foreign usurpation. The national party was represented by the three great Riksföreståndare, or Viceroyalty, of the Sture family who, with brief intervals, successively defended the independence of Sweden against the Danish kings from 1470 to 1520 and thus kept the nation's spirit alive" (my emphasis added)

Was it really the case that the "Swedish people" (what was the degree of national conciousness at the time) rose up against the foreigners? That seems to be a slightly old-fashioned view of history. Wasn't it more about various power factions within the country fighting each other, with it being less important who was 'Danish' and who was 'Swedish'? Did people really think about the "independence of Sweden" at the time?

I'm not sure, I'm just raising the question.Osli73 14:49, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I'd like to suggest you check the first version of this article. The first version comes from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, and contains lots of such phrases. Other than that, I can't help you because I haven't written it and I don't know who did. /Fred-J 19:29, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Your right, thats just complete nonsense. You wont find a living scholar that actually belives in that... I dont understand why people copy info from Encyclopedia Britannica 11:th edition into history articles. It really isnt a good idea, since a critical view on sources had just begun to emerge in Sweden at the time. Ill remove it, and see if I can improve this article some.

 * --Screensaver 11:34, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

 * It was user:Mic who inserted Encyclopedica Brittanica 11:th ed. articles as a starter, back in 2003 I think. I think it was a good initiatiative, since EB 11:th are relatively accurate and well-written to fill that purpose. That the articles haven't been improved since may be attributed to a lack of interest from writers. / Fred-J 17:48, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

 * The EB11 discussion could go on for ever... I think that its good in some cases, and bad in others. When it comes to history, espcially older history, that its generally a bad idea. Its better to have no information at all, then to have false information, as in this case. But its kind of a question of taste as well, and there really arent any clear answears. So lets not get stuck in it, and try to write some new, good stuff instead. --Screensaver 21:27, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Birger Jarl - "His wise reforms prepared the way for the abolition of serfdom"?
The text currently mentions about Birger Jarl that "His wise reforms prepared the way for the abolition of serfdom". I have never come accross this anywhere (my understanding was that there never was any serfdom, in the classical sense, in Sweden), there is no reference in this article and there is no mention of it in the Birger Jarl article on Wikipedia. KarlXII 22:35, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Swedes and Svear
The article currently uses Swedes and Sweden to, as I understand it, denote both (sv.) "svear" and Geats. According to the Swedish Wikipedians' notice board/Terminology the term Swedes, especially when referring to this period, refers to (sv.) "svear" and not the Swedish people. Please see the Suiones talk page for more info.

In light of this, should Swedes and Sweden in this article be replaced by someting else?KarlXII 13:02, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Karl XII, is it really important to distinguish between the two tribes in that article? The Geats are only mentioned once, and when they are, Swedes is qualified with an of Uppland. The distinction does not seem relevant, IMHO.--Berig 13:39, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Terminology
What do we mean by "Sweden" in this article? Does "Sweden" equal Svealand + Götaland, but exclude Skåneland and Finland? Or should the article try to treat Götaland as a region that was increasingly part of Sweden, which is how medieval sources describe Götaland?--Berig 21:14, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

As an example of how different English and Swedish are, I copy a study I made at Talk:Suiones (if you do this on your own, verify that Google is set to search only for English-language sites):
 * +svear +götar 158 google hits
 * +svear +gautar 59 google hits
 * +svear +gauts 14 google hits
 * +svear +geats 133 google hits
 * +swedes +götar 201 google hits
 * +swedes +gautar 108 google hits
 * +swedes +gauts 65 google hits
 * +swedes +geats 9860 google hits

This means that we have to be clear that we cannot and should not translate from Swedish word by word, but respect that languages such as English and Icelandic do not treat the early medieval Sweden (Svea rike and svear) as a different nation from the late medieval Sweden (Sverige and svenskar). It may feel wrong for many Swedes, but modern Icelanders still call Sweden Svíþjóð and its population svíar in spite of the fact that many Swedish historians distinguish "Svitjod and svear" from "Sverige from svenskar". It is not the Icelanders who are "wrong" and some Swedish historians who are "right", but both are right. The Swedish history idiolects of some Swedish historians and the Icelandic language are just two different languages with different semantic networks. So we have to ask ourselves if we are here to write a history article in English, or POV-push to adapt the English language to Swedish preferences.--Berig 21:30, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

 * In most sources, "Sweden" and "Swedes" are described in vague terms. Most of the time, "Swedes" do only refer to the Suiones.
 * However, the Geats are part of "Swedish history", but not in the history of the "Swedes".
 * So yes, when refering the the "Swedes", the article refers to the Suiones.
 * For this reason, I today removed the image that depicted Sweden as consisting of both the Swedes and the Geats.
 * Skåneland is not dealth with in this article. I don't think that Finland will be either.
 * Fred-J 23:06, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

 * I am also worried about the NPOV-ishness of quoting Harrison, in this article. Harrison is *big*, but in Wikipedia terms, he is an agressive POV-pusher. This is a quote of Harrison where he expresses his feelings about people who think differently from him:
 * Vadan denna min upprördhet? Varför ondgör jag mig över en av vårt lands mest respekterade museiprofiler i modern tid? Svaret är att jag ser ett spöke vandra genom boken, och det är Olof Rudbecks spöke, den gammalsvenska göticismens spöke, en tjutande gast från fordom som ånyo iklätt sig ett blodfärgat lakan med rostiga kedjor. Den "sanna historien" om vandalerna tycks sprungen ur ett svenskt bygderomatiskt förflutet som jag inbillade mig att vi lämnat bakom oss för länge sedan.
 * This is a respected history professor who uses expressions such as ghost, howling fiend, blood-stained blanket with rusty chains when talking about other people's opinions and theories. Here is also a discussion where people express worries about Harrison's very personal way of presenting Swedish history. IMHO, Harrison is not a neutral source for Swedish history prior to the 13th century. In his books "Svitjod" and "Göternas riken" Mats G Larsson (a professor at the University of Lund) has expressed worries about the fact that Harrison's very personal way of treating Swedish history is uncritically accepted by many but lacks foundation in primary sources.--Berig 09:35, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Since Harrison is big, as you say, that is credible by itself to make him an appropriate source, but of course one should be careful about all controverial statements. Do you have any other reference literature to recommend? Feel free to inform me, if you know of any "neutral" historian.
 * Fred-J 10:13, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Every single historian and layman has his/her POVs, Fred. However, in my experience, Harrison represents a quite extreme Marxist interpretation of Swedish medieval history.--Berig 11:16, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * "In your experience"-- and who are you? / Fred-J 22:21, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I won't reveal who I am. But as to Harrison's Marxist belonging, you can follow the discussion at this very knowledgeble discussion site.--Berig 23:08, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Of course, personal experience and webforums are weak references to base on article on ( I've read them though ) . But I'll look through Mats Larsson's books. / Fred-J 13:14, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I also suggest that you have a look at the corresponding Swedish articles. They are much more neutral than your Harrison-inspired edits.--Berig 13:52, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

Please keep your facts straight. I think I used for Harrison one section, maybe two. The texts on Swedish Wikipedia are just copyedited articles from Nordisk Familjebok; I can not do much with it.

Apart from Harrison, do you find my other reference literature acceptable?

/ Fred-J 16:35, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

 * I think primary sources are to be preferred, with comments on what secondary sources say about the events. Fred, you have expressed that you think that the use of information from primary sources is "outdated" and I strongly disagree. Primary sources are primary and secondary sources are secondary, and history is not and must not be a matter of fashion, especially if the guiding principle is NPOV.--Berig 12:18, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

 * The comment "outdated" was directed to the EB1911 text, of course. / Fred-J 12:56, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

Removal of sections
Fred, you say in your summary that I removed a section when I *hid* it asking for explanation as to why the legendary information about husaby källa is important. You, on the other hand have repetedly removed information from this article without explanation:, , , , and. In the only removal, where I could find a motivation, you state that you consider the information "speculative and outdated":"rm speculative and outdated EB1911 text". However, the only thing that is wrong with this "speculative and outdated" text is the author of the Encyclopedia Britannica article based it on sources, such as Heimskringla. Can you explain to me why the myth of Husaby källa is less "speculative and outdated" than the Heimskringla? Moreoever, can you explain in what way Snorri Sturluson's information is less relevant than Harrison's? Snorri lived only 100-300 years later than the events described in this article and had access to many sources now lost, while Harrison lives 600-1000 years later. In what way is this massive removal of information more NPOV than my hiding of the myth of Husaby källa?--Berig 11:07, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

 * [[Image:Husaby kyrka källan.jpg|right|thumb|The well at [[Husaby]]]]

''Under the King Olof of Sweden (surnamed Skötkonung; late 960s – circa 1020) Christianity was established in Sweden. The story as told – there are no concrete evidence of it taking place, and the year is also disputed – was that Olof was baptized in 1008 by the Saint Sigfrid of Sweden, at Husaby well in West Sweden.''

 * It is amazing that during the whole time the article consisted of EB1911 material, and was too massive for anyone to bother reading it, and probably inaccurate (please scroll up to the comment made on November 14), neither you nor anyone else cared to improve it. The EB1911 eagerly wrote about all kinds of king from the past, usually starting with "in the time of X, we hear of a king X". Appropriate way of words?
 * Now that I am starting to improve it by rewriting it from scratch with some modern sources, you immediately jump on me and want to revise the article in progress by removing some of my text!? How does this improve anything?!
 * Surely I would like to add a lot more information to every section, even about this Lagmann I have never heard about, but do you think I have 50 arms and 100 brains that can do everything in one step? Fred-J 21:21, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I am appalled by the fact that you removed a mass of text without knowing what you removed (even about this Lagmann I have never heard about). There was even a picture of him in the deleted section.--Berig 21:56, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Finally, I will probably remove anything that is solely personal interpretations of the Heimskringla and other early sagas. Be prepared to use modern literature for such analysis (even if you can also mention in which saga something comes, of course).Fred-J 21:21, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Show me exactly where I have "interpreted a saga" in a historical context. The sections you removed were not my contributions, but taken in an early stage of WP from Encyclopedia Britannica.--Berig 21:56, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * This especially concerns the section on early rulers, for example when you write The Hervarar saga for instance is still of value to Swedish historians in its end sections, although most of it is considered to be of legendary nature.  -- where is the source for this?Fred-J 21:21, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * To pick only one example that you can easily check: Nationalencyklopedin quotes Hervarar saga as a source for its information about Blot-Sweyn.--Berig 21:56, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * If you can't provide a source and I can't find it in my reference literature, be prepared that it might be removed.Fred-J 21:21, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * What kind of threat is that? Do you mean that if you lack a book that I refer to, you will remove the info? Or do you insinuate that I quote books that don't exist? You are going way too far now Fred.--Berig 22:16, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is not a playground for interpreting sagas; I will direct you to the policy No_original_research.
 * Fred-J 21:21, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Fred. This is not a playground for interpreting sagas, I totally agree. Show me a single instance where you can accuse me of that. Summarizing literary sources is not saga interpretation. Moreover, I don't understand your referal to No_original_research since it permits referring to primary sources. In return, Fred, I direct you to NPOV, which is a guiding principle for Wikipedia. If I find that your additions are POV be prepared that it might be changed or removed. I also direct you to vandalism, if you feel like removing another huge chunk of text without giving any reason.--Berig 21:56, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

I wish that you would have spoken up about your support of the EB1911 text before I started rewriting the article. Labelling my edits vandalism is too late now. Just scroll up, and you'll see that the EB1911 text isn't considered accurate or NPOV. / Fred-J 22:24, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Fred. Since you hardly have the academic authority to deem Encyclopedia Britannica incorrect, I suggest that you cite sources, when you judge a piece of information from EB POV or incorrect. Removing huge chunks of text because you feel that it is possibly incorrect or POV, without telling why, is vandalism pure and simple.--Berig 22:39, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Re: your question. When I said If you can't provide a source and I can't find it in my reference literature, be prepared that it might be removed. -- I mean that if you write something without providing a source (which you have done), I will be so kind and try to see if I can find it in my reference literature. If that fails, I will remove it. / Fred-J 22:28, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Fred. Please consult this: assume good faith. It is a guiding principle on WP. Moreover, you have also added information without providing sources. Since you say:
 * I will be so kind and try to see if I can find it in my reference literature. If that fails, I will remove it.
 * I will return your kindness and kindly check if your information is correct, and if it fails - remove it. --Berig 22:36, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

 * You have misunderstood WP:NPOV and Verifiability. The NPOV policy does not mean that you can remove anything you don't approve of. Fred-J 22:52, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * What do you mean? It is *you* who have removed huge amounts of information in this article, without explaining why. The only thing I did was to hide it with a comment requesting an explanation.--Berig 23:01, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * However, if you find that my contributions are incorrect, be my guest and correct it. I'm sure you won't find it hard to find a source giving the details of Olof Skötkonungs baptism.
 * Here again is the difference between NPOV and verifiability: The legend of the baptism of Olof Skötkonung is readily found in any book. It is thus verifiable, and there is no reason to remove it.
 * Unlike you -- who write about sagas -- I try to write this article based in general history, so I don't think you will find anything hard to locate in a general history book. I have even given you page number for my refereces, unlike you, who used a whole saga as a reference.
 * Fred-J 22:52, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Fred. I don't think I have *ever* quoted a saga, without providing a link to the saga, where you can, usually, find an online translation and where you can use the "search function" to find the relevant passage. I understand that you may consider sagas irrelevant for history studies. However, there is *no* consensus among historians as to where history begins and the sagas end, so I hope that you respect that historical articles such as battle of Svolder amply quotes sagas and scaldic poetry, which this article also should, when relevant.--Berig 22:59, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Could we now please go back to writing this article?

If the article is to reach Good Article status, then it needs to have inline references. They aren't going to accept the current state of the "Early rulers" sections. It would be really helpful if you could help me add such references.

When it comes to interpreting old sources, the NE is written by experts so they are allowed to use primary sources. But the situation on Wikipedia is different because it is written by "anyone".

It is difficult for an amateur historian to verify the sentence "Some sources, such as Íslendingabók, Ynglinga saga and Historia Norwegiæ trace the foundation of the Swedish kingdom back in the last centuries BC". Do I have to read all those sagas to verify the sentence? Or could I perhaps get it verified in a modern book?

Fred-J 00:57, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Fred, I am surprised that you find it controversial, as it is only a reference to Norse mythology and the understanding of Snorri Sturluson and his contemporaries. Íslendingabók, Historia Norwegiae and Snorri Sturluson's work traced the Ynglings back to a groupe of eheumerized Freyr and Odin who would have settled in Sweden in the distant past. I advise you to follow the footnote to Grottasöngr, compiled by Snorri Sturluson, where the Swedish king Fjölnir was the contemporary of Augustus. This dating is why Thor Heyerdahl in his pseudo-archaoelogical studies searched for the origins of Odin in Azov during the last centuries BC (see Jakten på Odin).--Berig 11:34, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
 * However, this mythological discussion is slightly off-topic. What is much more serious is the name of the chapter "Early rulers". The earliest Swedish ruler was recored by Tacitus, in 98 AD. He wrote that the Swedes (Suiones) had a king with a lot of power. This reference, Fred, is to take seriously. Harrison (who wants to put the birth of Sweden to the late 13th century) feels so threated by Tacitus that he even speculates about the disappearance of the Suiones and the later appearence of a new tribe with the same name (Sveriges historia - Medeltiden, 2002). The likelihood of the appearance of two North Germanic tribes by the same name, without continuity, is so extremely low that Harrison's speculations are indicative of how threatened he feels by Tacitus' account. Otherwise, he would simply ignore it. This means that the section should be renamed.--Berig 11:34, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

On consolidation of Sweden. Svealand is an anachronistic term. Olof Skötkonung was simply a king in or of Sweden. Berig who is fond of old sources should know that some of them say that he ruled from, wait for it, Västergötland. Old sources are not easy to use, and one can easily go wrong. So the word Svealand simply has to go. The text about Sverker is also wrong. With and integrated are words that establishes a rank. We cannot prove any such rank, but the orthodox view today is that the kings integrated lands around Mälaren with Väster- and Östergötland. The simplest solution is to just replace the word with, with the word and.

Mvh, Marcus — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.224.196.6 (talk) 15:25, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Clarification requested
I don't understand this phrase in the intro: "when the Christianization broke through." Does that mean something like "when Sweden became thoroughly Christianized under Christian rulers"? Cynwolfe (talk) 15:08, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, you could say that. / Fred-J 21:48, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Erroneous map
There is everything wrong on that map, at least concerning Finland. Sweden didn't reach the Viborg (near Karelian Isthmus) before the 3. crusade in 1293, but this map claims it's the situation in 1219! --Jaakko Häkkinen (talk) 14:48, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

 * So that's only a small part to the east?
 * Fred-J 11:33, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

Who conqured who
Did the sweones conqure the geats or was i the other way around. Did svear meen both sweones and geats, and all the other peoples in the south from the beging?

To those who say Svearike has its origin in Uppland:
 * No king from Olof Skötkonung to Gustav Wasa came from Uppland.
 * Why was the kingdom ruled from Visingsö during the middleages?
 * Why was Birger Jarl forced to subdue the peseantry from Uppland in 1247, before he could form his kingdom?
 * Why did Birger Jarl choose to be burried in Västergötland?
 * Why where almost all kings during the middleages burried in either Västergötland or Östergötland?
 * Why did they all come from Västergötland or Östergötland?
 * Why was the administrative system from Götaland implemented in Uppland and the old one abolished? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.210.118.119 (talk) 09:34, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Gustav Vasa "uniting" Sweden
"The period 1350 to 1523 — when king Gustav Vasa, who led the unification of Sweden, was crowned — is considered the Younger Middle Ages."

I must have missed this chapter in school. To my knowledge, Sweden was considered a singular realm before he ascended the throne, albeit under Danish rule. --94.255.146.227 (talk) 13:47, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

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Christianization
"The rise of Christianity in Sweden effectively ended the Viking Age since a culture of plunder and raiding was anathema to Christian doctrine. It also put a halt to one of Scandinavia's main exports: slaves" This needs to be removed/supported by a source. Slaves was in no way a main export (export is likely the wrong word, as well). In addition, the culture of 'plunder and raiding' is an incorrect overrepresentation of the Viking Age. Even if it was a correct summary, the culture of plunder and raiding does not end here, as is demonstrated by Eric the saint's crusade(s). This whole christianization section of the article should be revised. Many important factors are left out, such as the legend of st Eskil. Iarlabanki (talk) 16:18, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

Bishop Adalhard
This article seems to have confused its Adalhards and I am not sure how to improve it. It refers to the Archbishop of Bremen who conflicted with Emund the Old as Adalhard in line with 1911 Britannica article on Sweden(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:EB1911_-_Volume_26.djvu/217) however the Wikipedia List of administrators, archbishops, bishops, and prince-archbishops of Bremen and 1911 Britannica article on Adalbert (archbishop) (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclopædia_Britannica/Adalbert_(archbishop)) have Adalbert as archbishop 1043 or 1045 to 1072. This article also says "Adalhard had succeeded in destroying the idols in Västergötland" but this is Adalhard the younger in the 1911 Britannica article on Sweden and Adalvard the younger in the Adalvard the younger Wikipedia article.TSventon (talk) 15:35, 5 June 2019 (UTC)

Infobox
I removed the infobox, since it was just full of errors:
 * There was a name in runic scirpt, but it was a transcription from modern Swedish into the elder fukthark, i.e. original material.
 * The map is problematic, showing a lot of well defined borders in e.g. Finland when there really were no such in 1250. Also, in 1250, Stockholm maybe did not exist (it was first mentioned in 1252; it celebrated 750 years in 2002). Also, Gullbergshed is a very odd thing to include, but not Skara or Växjö.
 * Capital: Gamla Uppsala might be OK to mention in the text, but really, medieval Sweden had no capital.
 * Languages: "Swedish norse" is as far as I know someone's own invention. Missing from the list is (Low) German, commonly spoken in cities.
 * Government: Medieval Sweden was not a feudal state in the common sense. It was one of the few states where yeomen were common. Lands were generally not traded for services to the crown (nobles were given tax exemptions instead).
 * Minor quibble, but Eric the victorious is the first king we can be certain existed where we also have a decent idea of the line of king after him. We know of earlier Swedish kings, but not how far their rule extended.

Finally, and most damning, is that the infobox itself assumes that medieval Sweden appeared and disappeared. We know comparably little about the formation of Sweden, but the year 800 is not a particularly good guess. It's just the common starting year for the viking age. Even more problematic, however, is the idea that Sweden ceised to exist upon being "incorporated" into the Kalmar union. Sweden continued to exist, it's "riksråd" and other institutions continued to function; the act of union clearly supposed that this would be the case. Sweden did not ceise to exist any more than it did upon joining the EU.

Andejons (talk) 22:50, 23 July 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Kingdom of Sweden (800–1521)


text:
Zahi Hawass

Zahi Abass Hawass (زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, serving twice. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Western Desert and the Upper Nile Valley.

Early life
Hawass was born in a small village near Damietta, Egypt. Although he originally dreamed of becoming an attorney, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Greek and Roman Archaeology from Alexandria University in 1967. In 1979, Hawass earned a diploma in Egyptology from Cairo University. He then worked at the Great Pyramids as an inspector—a combination of administrator and archaeologist.

When he was 33 years old, Hawass was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to attend the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to study Egyptology, earning a Master of Arts degree in the subject and also one in Syro-Palestinian Archaeology in 1983, and his PhD in Egyptology in 1987 from the Graduate Group in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World (AAMW), concentrating on "The Funerary Establishments of Khufu, Khafra and Menkaura During the Old Kingdom."

He is often mistaken for being a Coptic Christian because of his name, even though he is a Muslim.

Archaeology and early government career
Hawass was Associate Director of Excavation at Hermopolis in 1968 and Tarrana 1970–74. Since 1975, he has been Excavation Director and Restoration Director at various sites throughout Egypt, predominantly Giza.

From 1969 to 1975, Hawass was Inspector of Antiquities for a multitude of archaeological expeditions, for instance the Yale Expedition at Abydos, Egypt in 1969, and Abu Simbel between 1972 and 1974.

He sporadically taught Egyptian archaeology and history and culture at universities in Egypt and the USA between 1988 and 2001, most notably at the American University in Cairo, the University of California, Los Angeles and Alexandria University. Hawass has described his efforts as trying to help institute a systematic program for the preservation and restoration of historical monuments, while training Egyptians to improve their expertise on methods of excavation, retrieval and preservation.

Giza
Hawass was Inspector of Antiquities for Giza 1972–74, First Inspector until 1979 and Chief Inspector in 1980.

Starting in 1987, he held the position of Director General of the Giza monuments, which includes the sites of Giza, Saqqara, Memphis, Dahshur, Abusir and Bahariya Oasis.

After the discovery of Gantenbrink's Door in 1993, he left the position – according to Hawass, a resignation – but was reinstated several months later, following a change in leadership and the transformation of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization into the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

He was promoted to Undersecretary of the State for the Giza Monuments in 1998.

Hawass continues to be involved in archaeological projects at Giza and other sites in Egypt. , he headed the science committee overseeing the Scanpyramids project.

Politics
In 2002, Hawass was appointed as the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. When US President Barack Obama visited Cairo in June 2009, Hawass gave him personal tours of ancient Egyptian archaeological sites. Facing mandatory retirement, he was promoted by President Hosni Mubarak to the post of Vice Minister of Culture at the end of 2009.

2011 protest vandalism
On January 29, 2011, in the midst of the Egyptian protests of that year, Hawass arrived at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo to find that a number of cases had been broken into and a number of antiquities damaged, so police were brought in to secure the museum. According to Andrew Lawler, reporting for Science, Hawass said that he "faxed a colleague in Italy that 13 cases were destroyed. My heart is broken and my blood is boiling".

Hawass later told The New York Times that thieves looking for gold broke 70 objects, including two sculptures of the pharaoh Tutankhamun and took two skulls from a research lab, before being stopped as they left the museum.

Minister of Antiquities
Hawass was appointed to the position of Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, a newly created cabinet post, by Mubarak on January 31, 2011, as part of a cabinet shake-up during the 2011 protests. A press release including a statement from Hawass stated that he "will continue excavating, writing books, and representing his country," ensuring that archaeological sites in Egypt were being safeguarded and looted objects returned. Regarding the Egyptian Museum looting, he said: "The museum was dark and the nine robbers did not recognise the value of what was in the vitrines. They opened thirteen cases, threw the seventy objects on the ground and broke them, including one Tutankhamun case, from which they broke the statue of the king on a panther. However, the broken objects can all be restored, and we will begin the restoration process this week." Hawass rejected comparisons with the looting of antiquities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On February 13, Mahmoud Kassem of Bloomberg reported Hawass as saying that "18 artifacts, including statues of King Tutankhamun", were stolen from the Egyptian Museum in January; Kassem, paraphrasing Hawass, continues: "The missing objects include 11 wooden shabti statuettes from Yuya, a gilded wooden statue of Tutankhamun carried by a goddess and a statue of Nefertiti making offerings".

Egyptian state television reported that Hawass called upon Egyptians not to believe the “lies and fabrications” of the Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya satellite television channels. Hawass later said: “They should give us the opportunity to change things, and if nothing happens they can march again. But you can’t bring in a new president now, in this time. We need Mubarak to stay and make the transition”. On March 3, 2011, he resigned after a list was posted on his personal website of dozens of sites across Egypt that were looted during the 2011 protests.

Hawass was reappointed Minister of Antiquities by then-Prime Minister Essam Sharaf. On March 30, 2011, a tweet was posted, stating: "I am very happy to be the Minister of Antiquities once again!" but resigned on July 17, 2011, after Sharaf informed him he would not be continuing in the position. According to opinion report from an Egyptian commentator in The Guardian, Hawass was "sacked".

Claimed discoveries
As his biography at the National Geographic Explorers webpage notes, he states that he is"responsible for many recent discoveries, including the tombs of the pyramid builders at Giza and the Valley of the Golden Mummies at Bahariya. At Giza, he also uncovered the satellite pyramid of Khufu. In 2005, as part of the National Geographic Society-sponsored Egyptian Mummy Project to learn more about patterns of disease, health, and mortality in ancient Egypt, he led a team that CT scanned the mummy of King Tutankhamun. His team is continuing to CT scan mummies, both royal and private, and hopes to solve some of the mysteries surrounding the lives and deaths of such important figures as Hatshepsut and Nefertiti."

Works
Hawass has written and co-written many books relating to Egyptology, including The Curse of the Pharaohs: My Adventures with Mummies, and King Tutankhamun: The Treasures from the Tomb, the latter published to coincide with a major exhibition in the UK. He has also written on Tutankhamun for Ancient Egypt.

Hawass is a regular columnist for Egypt Today and the online historical community Heritage Key. He has narrated several videos on Egyptology, including a series on Tutankhamun.

Appearances

Hawass has appeared on television specials on channels such as the National Geographic Channel, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. Hawass has also appeared in several episodes of the U.S. television show Digging for the Truth, discussing mummies, the pyramids, Tutankhamun, Cleopatra and Ramesses II. He also appeared on Unsolved Mysteries during a segment on the curse of Tutankhamun's tomb. In 2010, Hawass appeared on a reality-based television show on The History Channel called Chasing Mummies.

Hawass also worked alongside Egyptologist Otto Schaden during the opening of Tomb KV63 in February 2006 – the first intact tomb to be found in the Valley of the Kings since 1922.

In June 2007, Hawass announced that he and a team of experts may have identified the mummy of Hatshepsut, in KV60, a small tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The opening of the sealed tomb was described in 2006 as "one of the most important events in the Valley of the Kings for almost a hundred years."

Hawass was interviewed about his work by Keith Floyd as part of his television series Floyd around the Med in the episode "Cairo, Egypt and Aswan to Luxor" (2000).

Hawass hosted and played further creative roles in the documentary Egypt's Ten Greatest Discoveries.

Return of artifacts to Egypt
Hawass has repeatedly spearheaded movements to return many prominent and irregularly taken Ancient Egyptian artifacts back to Egypt from collections in various other countries. Examples of these artifacts include: the Rosetta Stone, the bust of Nefertiti, the Dendera zodiac ceiling painting from the Dendera Temple, the bust of Ankhhaf (the architect of the Khafre Pyramid), the faces of Amenhotep III's tomb at the Louvre Museum, the Luxor Temple's obelisk at the Place de la Concorde and the statue of Hemiunu.

In July 2003, the Egyptians requested the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum. Hawass, then serving as Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, spoke at a press conference saying: "If the British want to be remembered, if they want to restore their reputation, they should volunteer to return the Rosetta Stone because it is the icon of our Egyptian identity". Referring to Egyptian antiquities at the British Museum, Hawass said: "These are Egyptian monuments. I will make life miserable for anyone who keeps them".

Alex Joffe of the Wall Street Journal expressed the opinion that the looting of antiquities during the 2011 Egyptian revolution made Hawass' campaign to return Egyptian antiquities to Egypt "misguided or at least poorly timed."

In 2019, Hawass relaunched his restitution campaign, asking the Berlin State Museums, the British Museum and the Musée du Louvre: “How can you refuse to lend to the new Grand Egyptian Museum when you have taken so many antiquities from Egypt?" All three museums refused his loan requests.

In 2022, Hawass launched another petition, calling once again for the return of the Rosetta Stone, the bust of Nefertiti and the Dendera Zodiac ceiling to Egypt. He planned on sending the petition, signed by a group of Egyptian intellectuals, to European museums in October.

DNA testing of Egyptian mummies

Hawass has been skeptical of the DNA testing of Egyptian mummies: "From what I understand," he has said, "it is not always accurate and it cannot always be done with complete success when dealing with mummies. Until we know for sure that it is accurate, we will not use it in our research."

In December 2000, a joint team from Waseda University in Japan and Cairo's Ain Shams University tried to get permission for DNA testing of Egyptian mummies, but was denied by the Egyptian Government. Hawass stated at the time that DNA analysis was out of the question because it would not lead to anything.

In February 2010, Hawass and his team announced that they had analyzed the mummies of Tutankhamun and ten other mummies and said that the king could have died from a malaria infection that followed a leg fracture. German researchers Christian Timmann and Christian Meyer have cast doubt on this theory, suggesting other possible alternatives for Tutankhamun's cause of death.

In 2012, a study signed by Hawass disclosed that Ramses III may have had a haplogroup that is associated with the Bantu expansion and is the most dominant in Sub-Saharan Africa, E1b1a.

Relationships with other archaeologists
Hawass has been accused of domineering behaviour, forbidding archaeologists to announce their own findings and courting the media for his own gain after they were denied access to archaeological sites because, according to Hawass, they were too amateurish. A few, however, have said in interviews that some of what Hawass has done for the field was long overdue. Hawass has typically ignored or dismissed his critics and, when asked about it, he indicated that what he does is for the sake of Egypt and the preservation of its antiquities.

Views on Jews and Israel
Hawass has been a long-standing opponent of normalised relations between Israel and Egypt. In January 2009, Hawass wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat: "The concept of killing women, children, and elderly people ... seems to run in the blood of the Jews of Palestine" and that "the only thing that the Jews have learned from history is methods of tyranny and torment—so much so that they have become artists in this field." He explained that he was not referring to the Jews' "[original] faith" but rather "the faith that they forged and contaminated with their poison, which is aimed against all of mankind." In an interview on Egyptian television in April 2009, Hawass stated that "although Jews are few in number, they control the entire world" and commented on the "control they have" of the American economy and the media. He later wrote that he was using rhetoric to explain political fragmentation among the Arabs, and that he does not believe in a "Jewish conspiracy to control the world".

Aftermath of 2011 protests
Criticism of Hawass, in Egypt and more broadly, increased following the protests in Egypt in 2011. On July 12, 2011, The New York Times reported on a story on page A1 that Hawass receives an honorarium each year "of as much as $200,000 from National Geographic to be an explorer-in-residence even as he controls access to the ancient sites it often features in its reports." The Times also reported that he has relationships with two American companies that do business in Egypt.

On April 17, 2011, Hawass was sentenced to jail for one year for refusing to obey a court ruling relating to a contract for the gift shop at the Egyptian Museum to a company with links to Hawass. The ruling was appealed and this specific sentence was suspended pending appeal. The following day, the National Council of Egypt's Administrative Court issued a decree to overturn the court's original ruling, specifying that he would serve no jail time, and would instead remain in his position as Minister of Antiquities. The jail sentence was lifted after a new contract was solicited for the running of the gift shop.

Association with Mubarak
As Minister of Antiquities, Hawass was closely associated with the government of former President Hosni Mubarak. His resignation as minister on March 3, 2011, and his re-appointment to the Ministry on March 30, 2011, have been seen as part of the overall events surrounding Mubarak's resignation. It was reported that his re-appointment angered numerous factions, who opposed the appointment of any of the old guard under Mubarak to new positions in the government. The 2011 Egyptian protests resulted in increased criticism of Hawass. Demonstrators called for his resignation, and the upheaval increased attention on his relationship with the Mubarak family and the way in which he has increased his public profile in recent years.

Commercial endeavours
Hawass has lent his name to a line of men's apparel, described by The New York Times as "a line of rugged khakis, denim shirts and carefully worn leather jackets that are meant, according to the catalog copy, to hark "back to Egypt’s golden age of discovery in the early 20th century"; the clothing was first sold at Harrods department store in London, in April 2011. Critics say the Hawass clothing commercializes Egyptian history, and objected to their understanding that "models had sat on or scuffed priceless ancient artifacts during the photo shoot", an accusation that was denied by Hawass and the clothing manufacturers. Hawass already sells a line of Stetson hats reproducing the ones he wears, which "very much resemble" the ones worn by Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones movies.

Honorary degrees
Hawass has received many honorary degrees. From outside Egypt, he has received honorary doctorates from the University of Pennsylvania (2000), the University of Lisbon (2011), the Chandrakasem Rajabhat University (2011), the New Bulgarian University (2016), the Universidad Católica Santo Domingo (2016), the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola (2017) and the Russian State University for the Humanities (2021).

Recognition and awards
Hawass is the recipient of the Egyptian state award of the first degree for his work in the Sphinx restoration project. In 2001, he was silver medallist offered by the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. In 2002, he was awarded the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate and the glass obelisk from US scholars for his efforts to the protection and preservation of Ancient Egyptian monuments. In 2003, Hawass was given international membership in the Russian Academy for Natural Sciences (RANS) and, in 2006, he was chosen as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time. In 2015, He awarded the Golden Memorial Medal of Charles University. In 2018, he was awarded by the Academia Brasileira de Letras for being the only archaeologist who wrote more than 30 books. In the same year, he received the Presidential Medal of the Republic of Kosovo in recognition for his entire academic output. Also in 2018, he received the grand prize of the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Culture. In 2022, he received the plaque of honour from the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences of Cairo.

Honours

 * 🇩🇿 Algeria: Second Class of the National Order of Merit (Algeria)
 * 🇦🇹 Austria: Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
 * 🇪🇬 Egypt: Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit (Egypt)
 * 🇫🇷 France: Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
 * 🇮🇹 Italy: Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
 * 🇯🇵 Japan: Gold and Silver Star of the Order of the Rising Sun
 * 🇵🇪 Peru: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru
 * 🇵🇱 Poland: Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis
 * 🇪🇸 Spain: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of Spain

Main publications
See Zahi Hawass bibliography for a comprehensive list.
 * The Great Book of Ancient Egypt: In the Realm of the Pharaohs, London, ed. White Star, 2018
 * Giza and the Pyramids, London, ed. Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2017
 * Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2016
 * Newly-Discovered Statues from Giza (1990-2009), Cairo, ed. Ministry of Culture, 2011
 * Highlights of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, ed. The American University in Cairo Press, 2011
 * Inside the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, ed. he American University in Cairo Press, 2010
 * Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, Washington, D.C., ed. National Geographic Society, 2010
 * Life in Paradise: The Noble Tombs of Thebes, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2009
 * King Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Tomb, Thames & Hudson, 2008
 * Old Kingdom Pottery from Giza, Cairo, ed. Ministry of Culture, 2008
 * The Royal Tombs of Egypt: The Art of Thebes Revealed, Thames & Hudson, 2006
 * Mountains of the Pharaohs: A History of the Pyramids of Egypt, New York, ed. Doubleday Books, 2006
 * Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: A Souvenir Book, London, ed. National Geographic Society, 2005
 * Tutankhamun: The Mystery of the Boy King, London, ed. National Geographic Society, 2005
 * The Island of Kalabsha, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2005
 * How The Great Pyramid Was Built, Washington, D.C., ed. Smithsonian Books, 2004
 * Curse of the Pharaohs: My Adventures With Mummies, London, ed. National Geographic Society, 2004
 * Hidden Treasures of Ancient Egypt: Unearthing the Masterpieces of Egyptian History, London, ed. National Geographic Society, Londres, 2004
 * The Golden Age of Tutankhamun: Divine Might and Splendor in the New Kingdom, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2004
 * Cradle & Crucible: History and Faith in the Middle East, avec David Fromkin et Milton Viorst, London, ed. National Geographic Society, 2004
 * Tesoros de las Piramides, Washington, D.C., ed. Grupo Oceano, 2004
 * The Treasures of the Pyramids, London, ed. White Star, 2003
 * Egyptian Museum Collections Around the World: Studies for the Centennial of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2003
 * Secrets from the Sand: My Search for Egypt's Past, New York, ed. Harry N. Abrams, 2003
 * Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The Archaeology Museum, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2003
 * Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: History, Religion: Proceedings of the Eighth International, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2003
 * Hidden Treasures of the Egyptian Museum: One Hundred Masterpieces Form the Centennial Exhibition, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2003
 * Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults (with Pamela S. Gates), Washington, D.C., ed. Scarecrow Press, 2003
 * The Mysteries of Abu Simbel: Ramesses II and the Temples of the Rising Sun, Cairo, ed. American University in Cairo Press, 2001
 * Valley of the Golden Mummies: The Greatest Egyptian Discovery Since Tutankhamun, London, ed. Virgin Books, 2000
 * The Egyptian Monuments: Problems and Solutions, Berlin, ed. Gruyter, 1995
 * Silent Images: Women in Pharaonic Egypt, Cultural Development Fund, Ministry of Culture, 1995
 * The Funerary Establishments of Khufu, Khafra and Menkaura During the Old Kingdom, Pennsylvania, ed. University of Pennsylvania, 1987

title: Zahi Hawass


text:
Beckmann rearrangement

The Beckmann rearrangement, named after the German chemist Ernst Otto Beckmann (1853–1923), is a rearrangement of an oxime functional group to substituted amides. The rearrangement has also been successfully performed on haloimines and nitrones. Cyclic oximes and haloimines yield lactams.

The Beckmann rearrangement is often catalyzed by acid; however, other reagents have been known to promote the rearrangement. These include tosyl chloride, thionyl chloride, phosphorus pentachloride, phosphorus pentoxide, triethylamine, sodium hydroxide, trimethylsilyl iodide among others. The Beckmann fragmentation is another reaction that often competes with the rearrangement, though careful selection of promoting reagent and solvent conditions can favor the formation of one over the other, sometimes giving almost exclusively one product. The rearrangement occurs stereospecifically for ketoximes and N-chloro/N-fluoro imines, with the migrating group being anti-periplanar to the leaving group on the nitrogen. Certain conditions have been known to racemize the oxime geometry, leading to the formation of both regioisomers. The rearrangement of aldoximes occurs with stereospecificity in the gas phase and without stereospecificity in the solution phase. A few methodologies allow for the rearrangement of aldoximes to primary amides, but fragmentation commonly competes in these systems. Nitrone rearrangement also occurs without stereospecificity; the regioisomer formed has the amide nitrogen substituted with the group possessing the greatest migratory aptitude.

The archetypal Beckmann rearrangement is the conversion of cyclohexanone to caprolactam via the oxime. Caprolactam is the feedstock in the production of Nylon 6.

The Beckmann solution consists of acetic acid, hydrochloric acid and acetic anhydride, and was widely used to catalyze the rearrangement. Other acids, such as sulfuric acid, polyphosphoric acid, and hydrogen fluoride have all been used. Sulfuric acid is the most commonly used acid for commercial lactam production due to its formation of an ammonium sulfate by-product when neutralized with ammonia. Ammonium sulfate is a common agricultural fertilizer providing nitrogen and sulfur.

Reaction mechanism
The most common reaction mechanism of the Beckmann rearrangement consists generally of an alkyl migration anti-periplanar to the expulsion of a leaving group to form a nitrilium ion. This is followed by solvolysis to an imidate and then tautomerization to the amide:

 * Mechanism Beckmann rearrangement.svg

This nitrilium ion has been known to be intercepted by other nucleophiles, including the leaving group from the oxime. Presumably after the phenyl group migrates and expels the cyanate, the latter then attacks the nitrilium ion formed. In carbon tetrachloride the isocyanate can be isolated, whereas in ethanol, the urethane is formed after solvolysis of the isocyanate.

One computational study has established the mechanism accounting for solvent molecules and substituents. The rearrangement of acetone oxime in the Beckmann solution involved three acetic acid molecules and one proton (present as an oxonium ion). In the transition state leading to the iminium ion (σ-complex), the methyl group migrates to the nitrogen atom in a concerted reaction as the hydroxyl group is expelled. The oxygen atom in the hydroxyl group is stabilized by three acetic acid molecules. In the next step the electrophilic carbon atom in the nitrilium ion is attacked by water and a proton is donated back to acetic acid. In the transition state leading to the imidate, the water oxygen atom is coordinated to 4 other atoms. In the third step, an isomerization step protonates the nitrogen atom leading to the amide.

The same computation with a hydroxonium ion and 6 molecules of water has the same result, but when the migrating substituent is a phenyl group, the mechanism favors the formation of an intermediate three-membered π-complex. This π-complex is not found in the H3O+(H2O)6.

With the cyclohexanone-oxime, the relief of ring strain results in a third reaction mechanism, leading directly to the protonated caprolactam in a single concerted step without the intermediate formation of a π-complex or σ-complex.

Cyanuric chloride assisted Beckmann reaction
Beckmann rearrangement can be rendered catalytic using cyanuric chloride and zinc chloride as a co-catalyst. For example, cyclododecanone can be converted to the corresponding lactam, the monomer used in the production of Nylon 12.

The reaction mechanism for this reaction is based on a catalytic cycle with cyanuric chloride activating the hydroxyl group via a nucleophilic aromatic substitution. The reaction product is dislodged and replaced by new reactant via an intermediate Meisenheimer complex.

Beckmann fragmentation
The Beckmann fragmentation is a reaction that frequently competes with the Beckmann rearrangement. When the group α to the oxime is capable of stabilizing carbocation formation, the fragmentation becomes a viable reaction pathway. The reaction generates a nitrile and a carbocation, which is quickly intercepted to form a variety of products. The nitrile can also be hydrolyzed under reaction conditions to give carboxylic acids. Different reaction conditions can favor the fragmentation over the rearrangement.

Quaternary carbon centers promote fragmentation by stabilizing carbocation formation through hyperconjugation. As shown in the above picture, the "stable" carbocation is formed, which then loses a hydrogen to give a site of unsaturation. Oxygen and nitrogen atoms also promote fragmentation through the formation of ketones and imines respectively.

Sulfur is also capable of promoting fragmentation, albeit at a longer range than oxygen or nitrogen.

Silicon is capable of directing the fragmentation through the beta-silicon effect.

The carbocation intermediate in this reaction is intercepted by nucleophilic fluoride from diethylaminosulfur trifluoride (DAST):

 * BeckmannFragmentationKirihara1997.svg

Semmler–Wolff reaction
The oxime of cyclohexenone with acid forms aniline in a dehydration – aromatization reaction called the Semmler–Wolff reaction or Wolff aromatization

The mechanism can be shown as below:

The reaction is intrinsically a special case of the Beckmann rearrangement combined with neighbouring group participation.

Applications in drug synthesis

 * Celanese synthesis of paracetamol.svg

An industrial synthesis of paracetamol developed by Hoechst–Celanese involves the conversion of a methyl ketone to an acetanilide via a Beckmann rearrangement.

The thermal rearrangement that occurs in the synthesis of ketamine was claimed to be a Beckmann rearrangement according to: url.

title: Beckmann rearrangement