title: French Wars of Religion

text: In 1495, the Venetian Aldus Manutius began using the newly invented printing press to produce small, inexpensive, pocket editions of Greek, Latin, and vernacular literature, making knowledge in all disciplines available for the first time to a wide audience. Cheap pamphlets and broadsides allowed theological and religious ideas to be disseminated at an unprecedented pace. In 1519, John Froben published a collection of works by Martin Luther and noted in his correspondence that 600 copies were being shipped to France and Spain and sold in Paris.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: In 1521, a group of reformers including Jacques Lefèvre and Guillaume Briçonnet, recently appointed bishop of Meaux, formed the Circle of Meaux, aiming to improve the quality of preaching and religious life in general. They were joined by François Vatable, an expert in Hebrew, along with Guillaume Budé, a classicist and Royal librarian. Lefèvre's "Fivefold Psalter" and his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans emphasised the literal interpretation of the Bible and the centrality of Jesus Christ. Many of the tenets behind Lutheranism first appeared in Luther's lectures, which in turn contained many of the ideas expressed in the works of Lefèvre.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Other members of the Circle included Marguerite de Navarre, sister of Francis I and mother of Jeanne d'Albret, as well as Guillaume Farel, who was exiled to Geneva in 1530 due to his reformist views and persuaded John Calvin to join him there. Both men were banished from Geneva in 1538 for opposing what they viewed as government interference with religious affairs; although the two fell out over the nature of the Eucharist, Calvin's return to Geneva in 1541 led to the wider dissemination of what became known as Calvinism.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: A key driver behind the Reform movement was corruption among the clergy which Luther and others attacked and sought to change. Such criticisms were not new but the printing press allowed them to be widely shared, such as the "Heptameron" by Marguerite, a collection of stories about clerical immorality. Another complaint was the reduction of Salvation to a business scheme based on the sale of Indulgences, which added to general unrest and increased the popularity of works such as Farel's translation of the Lord's Prayer, "The True and Perfect Prayer". This focused on "Sola fide", or the idea salvation was a free gift from God, emphasised the importance of understanding in prayer and criticised the clergy for hampering the growth of true faith.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Italian revival of classical learning appealed to Francis I (1494-1547), who set up royal professorships in Paris to better understand ancient literature. However, this did not extend to religion, especially after the 1516 Concordat of Bologna when Pope Leo X increased royal control of the Gallican church, allowing Francis to nominate French clergy and levy taxes on church property. Unlike Germany, the French nobility also generally supported the status quo and existing policies.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Despite his personal opposition, Francis tolerated Luther's ideas when they entered France in the late 1520s, largely because the definition of Catholic orthodoxy was unclear, making it hard to determine precisely what was or was not heresy. He tried to steer a middle course in the developing religious schism, but in January 1535, Catholic authorities made a definitive ruling by classifying "Lutherans" as heretical Zwinglians. Calvin, originally from Noyon in Picardy, went into exile in 1535 to escape persecution and settled in Basle, where he published the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" in 1538. This work contained the key principles of Calvinism, which became immensely popular in France and other European countries.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: While Lutheranism was widespread within the French commercial class, the rapid growth of Calvinism was driven by the nobility. It is believed to have started when Condé passed through Geneva while returning home from a military campaign and heard a Calvinist sermon. Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, converted to Calvinism in 1560, possibly due to the influence of Theodore de Beze. Along with Condé and her husband Antoine of Navarre, she and their son Henry of Navarre became Huguenot leaders.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The crown continued efforts to remain neutral in the religious debate until the Affair of the Placards in October 1534, when Protestant radicals put up posters in Paris and other provincial towns that rejected the Catholic doctrine of the "Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist". This allowed Protestantism to be clearly defined as heresy, while Francis was furious at the breach of security which had allowed one of the posters to be placed on the door of his bedchamber. Having been severely criticised for his initial tolerance, he was now encouraged to punish those responsible. On 21 February 1535, a number of those implicated in the Affair were executed in front of Notre-Dame de Paris, an event attended by Francis and members of the Ottoman embassy to France.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The fight against heresy intensified in the 1540s, forcing Protestants to worship in secret. In October 1545, Francis ordered the punishment of Waldensians based in the south-eastern village of Mérindol. A long-standing Proto-Protestantism tradition dating back to the 13th century, the Waldensians had recently affiliated with the Reformed church and became increasingly militant in their activities. In what became known as the Massacre of Mérindol, Provençal troops killed numerous residents and destroyed another 22 to 28 nearby villages, while hundreds of men were forced to become Galley slaves.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Francis I died on 31 March 1547 and was succeeded by his son Henry II, who continued the religious repression pursued by his father in the last years of his reign. His policies were even more severe since he sincerely believed all Protestants were heretics; on 27 June 1551, the Edict of Châteaubriant sharply curtailed their right to worship, assemble, or even discuss religion at work, in the fields, or over a meal.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: From his base in Geneva, Calvin provided leadership and organisational structures for the Reformed Church of France. Calvinism proved attractive to people from across the social hierarchy and occupational divides and was highly regionalised, with no coherent pattern of geographical spread. Despite persecution, their numbers and power increased markedly, driven by the conversion to Calvinism of large sections of the nobility. Historians estimate that by the outbreak of war in 1562, there were around two million French Calvinists, including more than half of the nobility, backed by 1,200–1,250 churches. This constituted a substantial threat to the monarchy.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The death of Henry II in July 1559 created a political vacuum and an internal struggle for power between rival factions, which the 15 year old Francis II lacked the ability to control. Francis, Duke of Guise, whose niece Mary, Queen of Scots, was married to the king, exploited the situation to establish dominance over their rivals, the House of Montmorency. Within days of the King's accession, the English ambassador reported "the house of Guise ruleth and doth all about the French King".


title: French Wars of Religion

text: On 10 March 1560, a group of disaffected nobles led by Jean du Barry, attempted to break the power of the Guise by abducting the young king. Their plans were discovered before being carried out and hundreds of suspected plotters executed, including du Barry. The Guise suspected Condé of involvement in the plot and he was arrested and sentenced to death before being freed in the political chaos that followed the sudden death of Francis II, adding to the tensions of the period.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: In the aftermath of the plot, the term "Huguenot" for France's Protestants came into widespread usage. Shortly afterwards, the first instances of Protestant iconoclasm or the destruction of images and statues in Catholic churches, occurred in Rouen and La Rochelle. This continued throughout 1561 in more than 20 cities and towns, sparking attacks on Protestants by Catholic mobs in Sens, Cahors, Carcassonne, Tours and elsewhere.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: When Francis II died on 5 December 1560, his mother Catherine de' Medici became regent for her second son, the nine year old Charles IX. With the state financially exhausted by the Italian Wars, Catherine had to preserve the independence of the monarchy from a range of competing factions led by powerful nobles, each of whom controlled what were essentially private armies. To offset the Guise or "Guisard", she agreed a deal in which Antoine of Navarre renounced any claim to the regency in return for Condé's release and the position of Lieutenant-General of France.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Catherine had several options for dealing with "heresy", including continuing Henry's II's failed policy of eradication, an approach backed by Catholic ultras such as François de Tournon or converting the monarchy to Calvinism, as preferred by de Bèze. A middle path between these two extremes was allowing both religions to be openly worshipped in France at least temporarily, or the Guisard compromise of scaling back persecution but not permitting toleration. For the moment she held to the Guisard line.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Before his death, Francis II had called the first Estates General held since 1484, which in December 1560 assembled in Orléans to discuss topics which included taxation and religion. It made little progress on the latter, other than agreeing to pardon those convicted of religious offences in the prior year. Since this was clearly unacceptable to Condé and his followers, Catherine bypassed the Estates and enacted conciliatory measures such as the Edict of 19 April 1561 and the Edict of July. This recognised Catholicism as the state religion but confirmed previous measures reducing penalties for "heresy".


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Estates then approved the Colloquy of Poissy, which began its session on 8 September 1561, with the Protestants led by de Bèze and the Catholics by Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, brother of the Duke of Guise. The two sides initially sought to accommodate Protestant forms of worship within the existing church but this proved impossible. By the time the Colloquy ended on 8 October, it was clear the divide between Catholic and Protestant theology was too wide to be bridged. With their options narrowing, the government attempted to quell escalating disorder in the provinces by passing the Edict of Saint-Germain, which allowed Protestants to worship in public outside towns and in private inside them. On 1 March, Guise family retainers attacked a Calvinist service in Champagne, leading to what became known as the massacre of Vassy. This seemed to confirm Huguenot fears that the Guisards had no intention of compromising and is generally seen as the spark which led to open hostilities between the two religions.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Although the Huguenots had begun mobilising for war before the Vassy massacre, many claimed that the massacre confirmed claims that they could not rely on the Edict of Saint Germain. In response, a group of nobles led by Condé proclaimed their intention of "liberating" the king from "evil" councillors and seized Orléans on 2 April 1562. This example was quickly followed by Protestant groups around France, who seized and garrisoned Angers, Blois and Tours along the Loire and assaulted Valence in the Rhône River. After capturing Lyon on 30 April, the attackers first sacked, then demolished all Catholic institutions in the city.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Hoping to turn Toulouse over to Condé, local Huguenots seized the "Hôtel de ville" but met resistance from angry Catholic mobs which resulted in street battles and over 3,000 deaths, mostly Huguenots. On 12 April 1562, there were massacres of Huguenots at Sens, as well as at Tours in July. As the conflict escalated, the Crown revoked the Edict under pressure from the Guise faction.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The major engagements of the war occurred at Rouen, Dreux, and Orléans. At the Siege of Rouen (May–October 1562), the crown regained the city, but Antoine of Navarre died of his wounds. In the Battle of Dreux (December 1562), Condé was captured by the crown, and the constable Montmorency, was captured by those opposing the crown. In February 1563, at the Siege of Orléans, Francis, Duke of Guise, was shot and killed by the Huguenot Jean de Poltrot de Méré. As he was killed outside of direct combat, the Guise considered this an assassination on the orders of the duke's enemy, Admiral Coligny. The popular unrest caused by the assassination, coupled with the resistance by the city of Orléans to the siege, led Catherine de' Medici to mediate a truce, resulting in the Edict of Amboise on 19 March 1563.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Edict of Amboise was generally regarded as unsatisfactory by all concerned, and the Guise faction was particularly opposed to what they saw as dangerous concessions to heretics. The crown tried to re-unite the two factions in its efforts to re-capture Le Havre, which had been occupied by the English in 1562 as part of the Treaty of Hampton Court between its Huguenot leaders and Elizabeth I of England. That July, the French expelled the English. On 17 August 1563, Charles IX was declared of age at the Parlement of Rouen ending the regency of Catherine de Medici. His mother continued to play a principal role in politics, and she joined her son on a Grand Tour of the kingdom between 1564 and 1566, designed to reinstate crown authority. During this time, Jeanne d'Albret met and held talks with Catherine at Mâcon and Nérac.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Reports of iconoclasm in Flanders led Charles IX to lend support to the Catholics there; French Huguenots feared a Catholic re-mobilisation against them. Philip II of Spain's reinforcement of the strategic corridor from Italy north along the Rhine added to these fears, and political discontent grew. After Protestant troops unsuccessfully tried to capture and take control of King Charles IX in the Surprise of Meaux, a number of cities, such as La Rochelle, declared themselves for the Huguenot cause. Protesters attacked and massacred Catholic laymen and clergy the following day in Nîmes, in what became known as the "Michelade".


title: French Wars of Religion

text: This provoked the Second War and its main military engagement, the Battle of Saint-Denis, where the crown's commander-in-chief and lieutenant general, the 74-year-old Anne de Montmorency, died. The war was brief, ending in another truce, the Peace of Longjumeau (March 1568), which was a reiteration of the Peace of Amboise of 1563 and once again granted significant religious freedoms and privileges to Protestants. News of the truce reached Toulouse in April, but such was the antagonism between the two sides that 6,000 Catholics continued their siege of Puylaurens, a notorious Protestant stronghold in the Lauragais, for another week.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: In reaction to the Peace, Catholic confraternities and leagues sprang up across the country in defiance of the law throughout the summer of 1568. Huguenot leaders such as Condé and Coligny fled court in fear for their lives, many of their followers were murdered, and in September, the Edict of Saint-Maur revoked the freedom of Huguenots to worship. In November, William of Orange led an army into France to support his fellow Protestants, but, the army being poorly paid, he accepted the crown's offer of money and free passage to leave the country.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Huguenots gathered a formidable army under the command of Condé, aided by forces from south-east France, led by Paul de Mouvans, and a contingent of fellow Protestant militias from Germanyincluding 14,000 mercenary "reiters" led by the Calvinist Duke of Zweibrücken. After the Duke was killed in action, his troops remained under the employ of the Huguenots who had raised a loan from England against the security of the Jeanne d'Albret's crown jewels. Much of the Huguenots' financing came from Queen Elizabeth of England, who was likely influenced in the matter by Sir Francis Walsingham. The Catholics were commanded by the Duke d'Anjoulater King Henry IIIand assisted by troops from Spain, the Papal States, and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Protestant army laid siege to several cities in the Poitou and Saintonge regions (to protect La Rochelle), and then Angoulême and Cognac. At the Battle of Jarnac (16 March 1569), the prince of Condé was killed, forcing Admiral de Coligny to take command of the Protestant forces, nominally on behalf of Condé's 16-year-old son, Henry, and the 15


title: French Wars of Religion

text: -year-old Henry of Navarre, who were presented by Jeanne d'Albret as the legitimate leaders of the Huguenot cause against royal authority. The Battle of La Roche-l'Abeille was a nominal victory for the Huguenots, but they were unable to seize control of Poitiers and were soundly defeated at the Battle of Moncontour (30 October 1569). Coligny and his troops retreated to the south-west and regrouped with Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, and in spring of 1570, they pillaged Toulouse, cut a path through the south of France, and went up the Rhone valley up to La Charité-sur-Loire. The staggering royal debt and Charles IX's desire to seek a peaceful solution led to the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (8 August 1570), negotiated by Jeanne d'Albret, which once more allowed some concessions to the Huguenots.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: With the kingdom once more at peace, the crown began seeking a policy of reconciliation to bring the fractured polity back together. One key part of this was to be a marriage between Navarre the son of Jeanne d'Albret and Antoine of Navarre, and Margaret of Valois the kings sister. Albret was hesitant, worried it might lead to the abjuration of her son, and it took until March 1572 for the contract to be signed.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Coligny, who had a price on his head during the third civil war, was restored to favour through the peace, and received lavishly at court in August 1571. He firmly believed that France should invade the Spanish Netherlands to unify the Catholics and Huguenots behind the king. Charles however, was unwilling to provide more than covert support to this project, not wanting open war with Spain. The council was unanimous in rejecting Coligny's policy and he left court, not finding it welcoming.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: In August the wedding was at last held, and all the most powerful Huguenot aristocracy had entered Paris for the occasion. A few days after the wedding, Coligny was shot on his way home from council. The outraged Huguenot nobility demanded justice which the king promised to provide. Catherine, Guise, Anjou, Alba were all variously suspected, though the Huguenot nobility directed their anger primarily at Guise, threatening to kill him in front of the king.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The court, increasingly alarmed at the possibility of Protestant forces marching on the capital, or a new civil war decided to pre-emptively strike at the Huguenot leadership. On the morning of 24 August, several kill squads were formed, one going out under Guise, which killed Coligny around 4am, leaving his body on the street where it was mutilated by Parisians and thrown in the Seine.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: By dawn it was clear the assassinations had not gone according to plan, with militant factions of the population slaughtering their Huguenot neighbours under the claim that 'the king willed it'. For the next five days, the violence continued as Catholics massacred Calvinist men, women, and children and looted their houses. King Charles IX informed ambassadors that he had ordered the assassinations to prevent a Huguenot coup and proclaimed a day of jubilee in celebration even as the killings continued. Over the next few weeks, the disorder spread to more than a dozen cities across France. Historians estimate that 2,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris and thousands more in the provinces; in all, perhaps 10,000 people were killed. Henry of Navarre and his cousin, the young Prince of Condé, managed to avoid death by agreeing to convert to Catholicism. Both repudiated their conversions after they escaped Paris.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The massacre provoked horror and outrage among Protestants throughout Europe, but both Philip II of Spain and Pope Gregory XIII, following the official version that a Huguenot coup had been thwarted, celebrated the outcome. In France, Huguenot opposition to the crown was seriously weakened by the deaths of many of the leaders. Many Huguenots emigrated to Protestant countries. Others reconverted to Catholicism for survival, and the remainder concentrated in a small number of cities where they formed a majority.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The massacres provoked further military action, which included Catholic sieges of the cities of Sommières (by troops led by Henri I de Montmorency), Sancerre, and La Rochelle (by troops led by the duke of Anjou). The end of hostilities was brought on by the election (11–15 May 1573) of the Duke of Anjou to the throne of Poland and by the Edict of Boulogne (signed in July 1573), which severely curtailed many of the rights previously granted to French Protestants. Based on the terms of the treaty, all Huguenots were granted amnesty for their past actions and the freedom of belief. However, they were permitted the freedom to worship only within the three towns of La Rochelle, Montauban, and Nîmes, and even then only within their own residences. Protestant aristocrats with the right of high-justice were permitted to celebrate marriages and baptisms, but only before an assembly limited to ten persons outside of their family.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: In the absence of the duke of Anjou, disputes between Charles and his youngest brother, the duke of Alençon, led to many Huguenots congregating around Alençon for patronage and support. A failed coup at Saint-Germain (February 1574), allegedly aiming to release Condé and Navarre who had been held at court since St Bartholemew's, coincided with rather successful Huguenot uprisings in other parts of France such as Lower Normandy, Poitou, and the Rhône valley, which reinitiated hostilities.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Three months after Henry of Anjou's coronation as King of Poland, his brother Charles IX died (May 1574) and his mother declared herself regent until his return. Henry secretly left Poland and returned via Venice to France, where he faced the defection of Montmorency-Damville, ex-commander in the Midi (November 1574). Despite having failed to have established his authority over the Midi, he was crowned King Henry III, at Rheims (February 1575), marrying Louise Vaudémont, a kinswoman of the Guise, the following day. By April, the crown was already seeking to negotiate, and the escape of Alençon from court in September prompted the possibility of an overwhelming coalition of forces against the crown, as John Casimir of the Palatinate invaded Champagne. The crown hastily negotiated a truce of seven months with Alençon and promised Casimir's forces 500,000 livres to stay east of the Rhine, but neither action secured a peace. By May 1576, the crown was forced to accept the terms of Alençon, and the Huguenots who supported him, in the Edict of Beaulieu, known as the Peace of Monsieur.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Edict of Beaulieu granted many concessions to the Calvinists, but these were short-lived in the face of the Catholic League – which the ultra-Catholic, Henry I, Duke of Guise, had formed in opposition to it. The House of Guise had long been identified with the defense of the Roman Catholic Church and the Duke of Guise and his relations – the Duke of Mayenne, Duke of Aumale, Duke of Elboeuf, Duke of Mercœur, and the Duke of Lorraine – controlled extensive territories that were loyal to the League. The League also had a large following among the urban middle class.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: King Henry III at first tried to co-opt the head of the Catholic League and steer it towards a negotiated settlement. This was anathema to the Guise leaders, who wanted to bankrupt the Huguenots and divide their considerable assets with the King. A test of King Henry III's leadership occurred at the meeting of the Estates-General at Blois in December 1576. At the meeting of the Estates-General, there was only one Huguenot delegate present among all of the three estates; the rest of the delegates were Catholics with the Catholic League heavily represented. Accordingly, the Estates-General pressured Henry III into conducting a war against the Huguenots. In response Henry said he would reopen hostilities with the Huguenots but wanted the Estates-General to vote him the funds to carry out the war. Yet, the Third Estate refused to vote for the necessary taxes to fund this war.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Estates-General of Blois (1576) failed to resolve matters, and by December, the Huguenots had already taken up arms in Poitou and Guyenne. While the Guise faction had the unwavering support of the Spanish Crown, the Huguenots had the advantage of a strong power base in the southwest; they were also discreetly supported by foreign Protestant governments, but in practice, England or the German states could provide few troops in the ensuing conflict. After much posturing and negotiations, Henry III rescinded most of the concessions that had been made to the Protestants in the Edict of Beaulieu with the Treaty of Bergerac (September 1577), confirmed in the Edict of Poitiers passed six days later.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Despite Henry according his youngest brother Francis the title of Duke of Anjou, the prince and his followers continued to create disorder at court through their involvement in the Dutch Revolt. Meanwhile, the regional situation disintegrated into disorder as both Catholics and Protestants armed themselves in 'self defence'. In November 1579, Condé seized the town of La Fère, leading to another round of military action, which was brought to an end by the Treaty of Fleix (November 1580), negotiated by Anjou.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The fragile compromise came to an end in 1584, when the Duke of Anjou, the King's youngest brother and heir presumptive, died. As Henry III had no son, under Salic Law, the next heir to the throne was the Calvinist Prince Henry of Navarre, a descendant of Louis IX whom Pope Sixtus V had excommunicated along with his cousin, Henri Prince de Condé. When it became clear that Henry of Navarre would not renounce his Protestantism, the Duke of Guise signed the Treaty of Joinville (31 December 1584) on behalf of the League, with Philip II of Spain, who supplied a considerable annual grant to the League over the following decade to maintain the civil war in France, with the hope of destroying the French Calvinists. Under pressure from the Guise, Henry III reluctantly issued the Treaty of Nemours (7 July 1585) and an edict suppressing Protestantism (18 July 1585) and annulling Henry of Navarre's right to the throne.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The situation degenerated into open warfare even without the King having the necessary funds. Henry of Navarre again sought foreign aid from the German princes and Elizabeth I of England. Meanwhile, the solidly Catholic people of Paris, under the influence of the Committee of Sixteen, were becoming dissatisfied with Henry III and his failure to defeat the Calvinists. On 12 May 1588, the Day of the Barricades, a popular uprising raised barricades on the streets of Paris to defend the Duke of Guise against the alleged hostility of the king, and Henry III fled the city. The Committee of Sixteen took complete control of the government, while the Guise protected the surrounding supply lines. The mediation of Catherine de'Medici led to the Edict of Union, in which the crown accepted almost all the League's demands: reaffirming the Treaty of Nemours, recognizing Cardinal de Bourbon as heir, and making Henry of Guise Lieutenant-General.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Refusing to return to Paris, Henry III called for an Estates-General at Blois in September 1588. During the Estates-General, Henry III suspected that the members of the third estate were being manipulated by the League and became convinced that Guise had encouraged the duke of Savoy's invasion of Saluzzo in October 1588. Viewing the House of Guise as a dangerous threat to the power of the Crown, Henry III decided to strike first. On 23 December 1588, at the Château de Blois, Henry of Guise and his brother, the Cardinal de Guise, were lured into a trap by the King's guards. The Duke arrived in the council chamber where his brother the Cardinal waited. The Duke was told that the King wished to see him in the private room adjoining the royal chambers. There guardsmen seized the duke and stabbed him in the heart, while others arrested the Cardinal who later died on the pikes of his escort. To make sure that no contender for the French throne was free to act against him, the King had the Duke's son imprisoned. The Duke of Guise had been highly popular in France, and the Catholic League declared open war against King Henry III. The Parlement of Paris instituted criminal charges against the King, who now joined forces with his cousin, the Huguenot, Henry of Navarre, to war against the League.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: It thus fell upon the younger brother of the Duke of Guise, the Duke of Mayenne, to lead the Catholic League. The League presses began printing anti-royalist tracts under a variety of pseudonyms, while the Sorbonne proclaimed on 7 January 1589, that it was just and necessary to depose Henry III, and that any private citizen was morally free to commit regicide. In July 1589, in the royal camp at Saint-Cloud, a Dominican friar named Jacques Clément gained an audience with the King and drove a long knife into his spleen. Clément was killed on the spot, taking with him the information of who, if anyone, had hired him. On his deathbed, Henry III called for Henry of Navarre, and begged him, in the name of statecraft, to become a Catholic, citing the brutal warfare that would ensue if he refused. In keeping with Salic Law, he named Henry as his heir.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The state of affairs in 1589 was that Henry of Navarre, now Henry IV of France, held the south and west, and the Catholic League the north and east. The leadership of the Catholic League had devolved to the Duke de Mayenne, who was appointed Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. He and his troops controlled most of rural Normandy. However, in September 1589, Henry inflicted a severe defeat on the Duke at the Battle of Arques. Henry's army swept through Normandy, taking town after town throughout the winter.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The King knew that he had to take Paris if he stood any chance of ruling all of France. This, however, was no easy task. The Catholic League's presses and supporters continued to spread stories about atrocities committed against Catholic priests and the laity in Protestant England (see Forty Martyrs of England and Wales). The city prepared to fight to the death rather than accept a Calvinist king.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: The Battle of Ivry, fought on 14 March 1590, was another decisive victory for Henry against forces led by the Duke of Mayenne. Henry's forces then went on to besiege Paris, but after a long and desperately fought resistance by the Parisians, Henry's siege was lifted by a Spanish army under the command of the Duke of Parma. Then, what had happened at Paris was repeated at Rouen (November 1591 – March 1592).


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Parma was subsequently wounded in the hand during the Siege of Caudebec whilst trapped by Henry's army. Having then made a miraculous escape from there, he withdrew into Flanders, but with his health quickly declining, Farnese called his son Ranuccio to command his troops. He was, however, removed from the position of governor by the Spanish court and died in Arras on 3 December. For Henry and the Protestant army at least, Parma was no longer a threat.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Meanwhile, Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur, whom Henry III had made governor of Brittany in 1582, was endeavouring to make himself independent in that province. A leader of the Catholic League, he invoked the hereditary rights of his wife, Marie de Luxembourg, who was a descendant of the dukes of Brittany and heiress of the Blois-Brosse claim to the duchy as well as Duchess of Penthièvre in Brittany, and organized a government at Nantes. Proclaiming his son "prince and duke of Brittany", he allied with Philip II of Spain, who sought to place his own daughter, infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, on the throne of Brittany. With the aid of the Spanish under Juan del Águila, Mercœur defeated Henry IV's forces under the Duke of Montpensier at the Battle of Craon in 1592, but the royal troops, reinforced by English contingents, soon recovered the advantage; in September 1594, Martin Frobisher and John Norris with eight warships and 4,000 men besieged Fort Crozon, also known as the "Fort of the Lion (El León)" near Brest and captured it on November 7, killing 400 Spaniards including women and children as only 13 survived.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Despite the campaigns between 1590 and 1592, Henry IV was "no closer to capturing Paris". Realising that Henry III had been right and that there was no prospect of a Protestant king succeeding in resolutely Catholic Paris, Henry agreed to convert, reputedly stating ""Paris vaut bien une messe"" ("Paris is well worth a Mass"). He was formally received into the Catholic Church in 1593, and was crowned at Chartres in 1594 as League members maintained control of the Cathedral of Reims, and, sceptical of Henry's sincerity, continued to oppose him. He was finally received into Paris in March 1594, and 120 League members in the city who refused to submit were banished from the capital. Paris' capitulation encouraged the same of many other towns, while others returned to support the crown after Pope Clement VIII absolved Henry, revoking his excommunication in return for the publishing of the Tridentine Decrees, the restoration of Catholicism in Béarn, and appointing only Catholics to high office. Evidently Henry's conversion worried Protestant nobles, many of whom had, until then, hoped to win not just concessions but a complete reformation of the French Church, and their acceptance of Henry was by no means a foregone conclusion.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: By the end of 1594, certain League members still worked against Henry across the country, but all relied on Spain's support. In January 1595, the king declared war on Spain to show Catholics that Spain was using religion as a cover for an attack on the French stateand to show Protestants that his conversion had not made him a puppet of Spain. Also, he hoped to reconquer large parts of northern France from the Franco-Spanish Catholic forces. The conflict mostly consisted of military action aimed at League members, such as the Battle of Fontaine-Française, though the Spanish launched a concerted offensive in 1595, taking Le Catelet, Doullens and Cambrai (the latter after a fierce bombardment), and in the spring of 1596 capturing Calais by April. Following the Spanish capture of Amiens in March 1597 the French crown laid siege until its surrender in September. With that victory Henry's concerns then turned to the situation in Brittany where he promulgated the Edict of Nantes and sent Bellièvre and Brulart de Sillery to negotiate a peace with Spain. The war was drawn to an official close after the Edict of Nantes, with the Peace of Vervins in May 1598.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: In early 1598, the king marched against Mercœur in person, and received his submission at Angers on 20 March 1598. Mercœur subsequently went to exile in Hungary. Mercœur's daughter and heiress was married to the Duke of Vendôme, an illegitimate son of Henry IV.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Henry IV was faced with the task of rebuilding a shattered and impoverished kingdom and uniting it under a single authority. Henry and his advisor, the Duke of Sully saw that the essential first step in this was the negotiation of the Edict of Nantes, which to promote civil unity granted the Huguenots substantial rightsbut rather than being a sign of genuine toleration, was in fact a kind of grudging truce between the religions, with guarantees for both sides. The Edict can be said to mark the end of the Wars of Religion, though its apparent success was not assured at the time of its publication. Indeed, in January 1599, Henry had to visit the "parlement" in person to have the Edict passed. Religious tensions continued to affect politics for many years to come, though never to the same degree, and Henry IV faced many attempts on his life; the last succeeding in May 1610.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Although the Edict of Nantes concluded the fighting during Henry IV's reign, the political freedoms it granted to the Huguenots (seen by detractors as "a state within the state") became an increasing source of trouble during the 17th century. The damage done to the Huguenots meant a decline from 10% to 8% of the French population. The decision of King Louis XIII to reintroduce Catholicism in a portion of southwestern France prompted a Huguenot revolt. By the Peace of Montpellier in 1622, the fortified Protestant towns were reduced to two: La Rochelle and Montauban. Another war followed, which concluded with the Siege of La Rochelle, in which royal forces led by Cardinal Richelieu blockaded the city for fourteen months. Under the 1629 Peace of La Rochelle, the "brevets" of the Edict (sections of the treaty that dealt with military and pastoral clauses and were renewable by letters patent) were entirely withdrawn, though Protestants retained their prewar religious freedoms.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: Over the remainder of Louis XIII's reign, and especially during the minority of Louis XIV, the implementation of the Edict varied year by year. In 1661 Louis XIV, who was particularly hostile to the Huguenots, started assuming control of his government and began to disregard some of the provisions of the Edict. In 1681, he instituted the policy of dragonnades, to intimidate Huguenot families to convert to Roman Catholicism or emigrate. Finally, in October 1685, Louis issued the Edict of Fontainebleau, which formally revoked the Edict and made the practice of Protestantism illegal in France. The revocation of the Edict had very damaging results for France. While it did not prompt renewed religious warfare, many Protestants chose to leave France rather than convert, with most moving to the Kingdom of England, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Dutch Republic and Switzerland.


title: French Wars of Religion

text: At the dawn of the 18th century, Protestants remained in significant numbers in the remote Cévennes region of the Massif Central. This population, known as the Camisards, revolted against the government in 1702, leading to fighting that continued intermittently until 1715, after which the Camisards were largely left in peace.


title: In the Bedroom

text: In the Bedroom is a 2001 American independent drama film directed by Todd Field from a screenplay written by Field and Robert Festinger, based on the 1979 short story "Killings" by Andre Dubus. It stars Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Nick Stahl, Marisa Tomei, and William Mapother. The film centers on the inner dynamics of a family in transition. Matt Fowler (Wilkinson) is a doctor practicing in Maine and is married to Ruth Fowler (Spacek), a music teacher. Their son Frank (Stahl) is involved in a love affair with an older single mother, Natalie Strout (Tomei). As the beauty of Maine's brief and fleeting summer comes to an end, these characters find themselves in the midst of an unimaginable tragedy.


title: In the Bedroom

text: The title refers to the rear compartment of a lobster trap known as the "bedroom" and how it can hold only two lobsters before the lobsters begin to turn on each other. "In the Bedroom" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was theatrically released in limited theatres on November 23, 2001 and grossed $44.8 million against a $1.7 million budget.


title: In the Bedroom

text: The film was praised for Field's direction, its screenplay and the performances (particularly those of Spacek, Wilkinson, Stahl and Tomei). "In the Bedroom" was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of the year while Spacek's performance was named the best female performance of the year. The film received five Oscar nominations at the 74th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress (for Spacek), Best Actor (for Wilkinson), Best Supporting Actress (for Tomei), and Best Adapted Screenplay, and also three nominations at the 59th Golden Globe Awards including for the Best Motion Picture – Drama, and winning Best Actress – Drama (for Spacek).


title: In the Bedroom

text: In the Mid-Coast town of Camden, Maine, Matt and Ruth Fowler enjoy a happy marriage and a good relationship with their son Frank, a recent college graduate who has come home for the summer. Frank has fallen in love with a divorced older woman with children, Natalie Strout; Ruth is openly concerned about Frank's relationship with Natalie, while Matt thinks it is only a fling.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Frank is about to begin graduate school for architecture, but is having second thoughts and considering staying in town to continue working as a fisherman and, more importantly, to be near Natalie and her kids. Natalie's ex-husband, Richard Strout, tries to find a way into his ex-wife and children's lives, going to increasingly violent lengths to get his intentions across to Natalie, including assaulting Frank. Frank resists Ruth's insistence he report Richard's violence to the police, but neither she nor Matt call them either.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Frank rushes to Natalie's home one evening after receiving a frightened phone call from one of her children. He arrives to find the living room trashed, and Natalie in distress. She tells him Richard just left, and pleads with him not to call the police, but Richard, still enraged returns almost immediately. Natalie takes the boys upstairs, and Frank insists through the locked front door that Richard leave. He feigns doing so, only to break in through the back door with a handgun; in the ensuing scuffle, Frank is shot in the face and killed.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Though equally devastated, Matt and Ruth grieve in different ways, with Matt putting on a brave face while Ruth becomes reclusive and quiet. Richard is set free on bail, paid by his well-to-do family, and both Matt and Ruth are forced to see him around town.


title: In the Bedroom

text: The couple retreat with friends Willis and Katie Grinnel to a secluded cottage for a weekend, but Ruth is distant; she rarely contributes to conversation, eyes Matt's drinking suspiciously, and sleeps most of the ride home. The next Saturday, Matt tells Ruth he's going into the office, but he instead goes to the convenience store where Natalie works. The two speak briefly, but Matt begins to become emotional, so he leaves. He goes fishing, and badly cuts his right index finger hauling lobster traps.


title: In the Bedroom

text: The tension between Matt and Ruth increases when their lawyer informs them that the lack of an eyewitness to Frank's shooting means Richard will instead be charged with accidental manslaughter, and will likely only serve five to ten years in prison. Ruth is openly distraught by this, Matt seems deflated. He and Willis spend the evening drinking and lamenting the injustice of the situation.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Natalie approaches Ruth at work and attempts to apologize, but Ruth slaps her before dismissively returning to her papers. Natalie leaves in tears. Later that same day, Ruth accidentally runs into Richard again while buying cigarettes.


title: In the Bedroom

text: When she returns home, an argument erupts between the couple in which each one confronts and emotionally savages the other; Matt lambastes Ruth for being an overbearing presence in Frank's youth, while Ruth in turn chastises Matt for showing little grief for their deceased son. A little girl knocks on the door, interrupting them, and Matt buys $10 worth of chocolate from her. He returns, measured now, and apologizes to Ruth, who apologizes in turn and, breaking down, tells Matt about seeing Natalie and Richard. The two embrace. With the air cleared, the couple is finally able to find common ground in their grief.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Matt then abducts Richard at gunpoint, saying he's arranged for Richard to jump bail and leave the state, so as to spare them the pain of seeing him in Camden. He forces Richard to "pack clothes for warm weather" and plants a train schedule in his apartment. He forces Richard to drive them out to the Grinnel cabin, where Willis is waiting with another vehicle. He begins to load Richard's belongings, but Matt hesitates - and then shoots Richard once in the shoulder and twice in the back, killing him. Willis is shocked, admonishing Matt for not following the plan. Matt responds simply that he couldn't wait. The two successfully bury Richard's body deep in the woods beyond the cabin, but are stuck unexpectedly at a bridge crossing on their return home. Willis laments that this cost them nearly an hour - meaning they arrive back in town just after sunrise at 4:00am instead of in darkness at 3:00am - and Matt apologizes.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Matt returns home and wraps his clothes in an old blanket, before washing himself in the downstairs sink. He returns to the bedroom upstairs to find Ruth awake and smoking in bed. She asks him, "Did you do it?" Matt appears troubled and unresponsive. He climbs into bed and then turns away from her. She asks if he's okay, and Matt haltingly describes a photo he saw in Richard's apartment of him with Natalie in a loving pose, but cannot explain why it affected him. Finally, Ruth gets up to make coffee. Matt rolls over onto his back and removes the band-aid from the finger he injured hauling traps - his trigger finger - to examine the healing wound underneath. Ruth calls from the kitchen, "Matt, do you want coffee?" but he doesn't answer.


title: In the Bedroom

text: "In the Bedroom" was the first film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It also received nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Adapted screenplay. The most nominations of any film to premiere at Sundance until "Precious" in 2009.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Upon its release, the film received critical acclaim for its direction, script, and performances, notably Wilkinson and Spacek. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a "certified fresh" approval rating of 93% based on 139 reviews, with an average score of 7.90/10. The site's consensus states "Expertly crafted and performed, "In the Bedroom" is a quietly wrenching portrayal of grief." On Metacritic the film has a score of 86 out of 100 based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: In the Bedroom

text: David Edelstein of "Slate Magazine" in his review of the film wrote that "it is the best movie of the last several years" and described it "the most evocative, the most mysterious, the most inconsolably devastating" film. He further mentioned that the effect of the film "isn't over when you leave the theater" and that it's "always going to be there". He also called "In the Bedroom" a "masterpiece".


title: In the Bedroom

text: Neil Norman of "The Evening Standard" stated "It is apparent that Field has not only studied the masters of cinematic understatement, such as Ozu and Bergman, but that he fully understands their processes... Field's achievement is such a perfectly consummated marriage of intent and execution that he need never make another movie. I would not be alone, I think, in hoping he will make many more."


title: In the Bedroom

text: William Arnold of the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" compared Field's direction to Kubrick's, saying that it "manages to feel both highly controlled and effortlessly spontaneous at the same time; and his lifting of the facade of this picturesque, Norman Rockwell setting is carried out with surgical precision". He further mentioned that "like Kubrick, Field doesn't make any moral judgments about his characters, and his film remains stubbornly enigmatic. It can be read as a high-class revenge thriller, an ode to the futility of vengeance or almost anything in between."


title: In the Bedroom

text: Stanley Kaufman of "The New Republic" wrote, ""In the Bedroom" leaves us with the happy knowledge that with Field the American film scene, continually deplored as scraggly, can boast another admirable directing talent.


title: In the Bedroom

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" stated in his review that it is "one of the best-directed films of the year" and that "every performance has a perfect tone". He listed "In the Bedroom" as his third best film of the year 2001.


title: In the Bedroom

text: "Rolling Stone's" Peter Travers called the film "an uncommonly good movie" that "will hit you hard." He also mentioned that "Oscar would be a fool" if it ignores Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson's "career-crowning performances".


title: In the Bedroom

text: A. O. Scott included the film in his "New York Times" essay ""The most important films of the past decade — and why they mattered"."


title: In the Bedroom

text: "In the Bedroom" was also chosen by the New York Times Film Critics for their ""Best 1,000 Films of All Time"."


title: In the Bedroom

text: The February 2020 issue of "New York Magazine" lists "In the Bedroom" alongside "Citizen Kane", "Sunset Boulevard", "Dr, Strangelove", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "The Conversation", "Nashville", "Taxi Driver", "The Elephant Man", "Pulp Fiction", "There Will Be Blood", and "Roma" as ""The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars'."


title: In the Bedroom

text: Among the negative reviews of the film include Paul Tatara of the "CNN" mentioning that the film "flounders" despite the good performances. Stephen Hunter of "The Washington Post" said "it opens brilliantly" but goes on to "self-negating absurdity."


title: In the Bedroom

text: "In the Bedroom" was the second highest-grossing film that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival from 2000 to 2009, after "Napoleon Dynamite". The film grossed a worldwide total of $44.8 million. It went on to become, at the time, the highest-grossing non-IMAX film in history never to reach the top 10 in a given week, and also one of the most successful films in history, with an expense-to-profit ratio of 1:25.


title: In the Bedroom

text: A Blu-ray for this title does not exist. The only DVD available is a bare-bones edition containing no extras or director's commentary. In 2002 when Field was asked by the New York Times why this was the case he said "Once a film is made available to the public, the right of interpretation belongs to the viewer. Unless it's something historical -- like "Citizen Kane" or "Raging Bull" -- it seems really silly to have that kind of thing."


title: In the Bedroom

text: During season four (episode eight "Mergers and Acquisitions") of "The Sopranos", Tony shows Carmela the new media center he has installed in the pool house, and she replies that she will pick up "In the Bedroom" for them to watch.


title: Webcam model

text: A webcam model (colloquially, camgirl, camboy, or cammodel) is a video performer who streams on the Internet with a live webcam broadcast. A webcam model often performs erotic acts online, such as stripping, masturbation, or sex acts in exchange for money, goods, or attention. They may also sell videos of their performances. Unlike other sex work, webcam models operate solely online. Once viewed as a small niche in the world of adult entertainment, camming became "the engine of the porn industry," according to Alec Helmy, the publisher of "XBIZ", a sex-trade industry journal.


title: Webcam model

text: As many webcam models operate from their homes, they are free to choose the amount of sexual content for their broadcasts. While most display nudity and sexually provocative behavior, some choose to remain mostly clothed and merely talk about various topics, while still soliciting payment as tips from their fans. Webcam models are predominantly women, and also include noted performers of all genders and sexualities.


title: Webcam model

text: The conceptual artist Jenny Ringley is considered the first camgirl. In 1996, as a student at Dickinson College, Ringley created a website called "JenniCam". Her webcam was located in her dorm room and automatically photographed her every few minutes. Ringley viewed her site as a straightforward document of her life. She did not wish to filter the events that were shown on her camera, so sometimes she was shown nude or engaging in sexual behavior, including sexual intercourse and masturbation. These images were then broadcast live over the Internet. Two years later, in 1998, she divided her website's access between free and paying.


title: Webcam model

text: Also in 1998, a commercial site called AmandaCam was launched. Amanda's site, like Ringley's, had multiple cameras around her house, which allowed people to look in on her. However, Amanda made an important early discovery that would influence the camming industry for decades to come – that a website's popularity could be greatly increased by enabling viewers to chat with a performer while online. Within her "members section", Amanda made it a point to chat with her viewers for over three hours a day. Since the early days of live webcasts by Ringley and Amanda, the phenomenon of "camming" has grown to become a multibillion-dollar industry, which has an average of at least 12,500 cam models online at any given time, and more than 240,000 viewers at any given time.


title: Webcam model

text: A camming website acts as a middleman and talent aggregator by hosting hundreds of independent models, and verifies that all are at least 18 years old. Camming websites typically fall into two main categories, dependent upon whether their video chat rooms are free or private. Viewers in private chat rooms pay the performance by the minute. However, in free chat rooms, payment is voluntary in the form of tips, thus providing the model with an income at a minimal cost for the viewers of the model's chat room's video stream.


title: Webcam model

text: "Tips" are electronic tokens that viewers can buy from a camming website, and then give to the models during live performances to show appreciation. Tokens can also be used to buy access to private shows, operate a Teledildonic device that a model may be wearing, or buy videos and souvenirs from a model. The website provides the transactional platform and then collects and distributes a percentage of the tips to the models. For public chat rooms, the model's portion of a tip ranges from 30% to 70%, depending on the cam site.


title: Webcam model

text: A July 2020 survey found the average webcam model in the United States works 18 hours per week, and earns $4,470 per month. Webcam models who work full-time (40 hours per week or more) earn $11,250 per month on average. Top-earning webcam models have a self-reported income of over $312,000 annually, while bottom earners take home as little as $100 per week.


title: Webcam model

text: In the United States, webcam models are considered as self-employed workers, and their tax rate is 15.3% (where 12.4% is for social security and 2.9% for Medicare). If a webcam model earns more than $600 in a year, they are sent a 1099 form and are required to report the income to the IRS.


title: Webcam model

text: Performances can be highly interactive in both public and private video chat rooms. Customers and performers can communicate with each other using a keyboard, speech, and two-way cameras. Within public chat rooms, the audience can see tips and viewer comments as scrolling text next to the real-time video stream. Camgirls will frequently read and respond to the scrolling viewer comments. The chatter is constant and is often led by a small band of regular fans.


title: Webcam model

text: This is not the first time conversational interaction has become a boon for the erotic entertainment industry. In the early 20th century, sociologist Paul Cressey noted that within the hundreds of taxi-dance halls of America, "the traffic in romance and feminine society" would become available when taxi dancers would offer their companionship and "the illusion of romance" for ten cents a dance. The Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre strip club is credited with the invention of the lap dance in 1977 when their new stage, New York Live, pioneered customer-contact shows with strippers that came off the stage and sat in the laps of customers for tips. Enabled with this new revenue stream for strippers, the strip club industry went through a period of extreme growth during the 1980s.


title: Webcam model

text: Much of the success of camming owes to its ability to move beyond the borders of erotic video performance and into the everyday social lives of camming customers. Webcam performers are often highly entrepreneurial and use mainstream social networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Skype, and Tumblr to build and maintain relationships with their customers. Some fans communicate multiple times a day with models through social media.


title: Webcam model

text: Unlike traditional pornography, the interactive nature of the camming medium titillates with the promise of "virtual friendship". Princeton University sociologist and author of "The Purchase of Intimacy", Viviana Zelizer, states of camming: "they're defining a new kind of intimacy. It's not traditional sex work, not a relationship, but something in between." In addition to performing sex work, cam models also perform through their hosting duties, conveying authenticity, creating and animating fantasies, and managing relationships over time.


title: Webcam model

text: Within "Cam Girlz", a documentary film about the industry, male fans often say that they come to camming sites as a way to fulfill emotional needs. The film's director, Sean Dunne, states of the fans, "they said it's not like a strip club – it's like a community, and you feel it when you’re in these chat rooms. It's a community and entertainment that goes very far beyond sexuality."


title: Webcam model

text: However, Dr Kari Lerum of the University of Washington suggests that men are more open and vulnerable in cam rooms than in strip clubs, and can become very invested in relationships which only exist on the screen. This proposition was supported by a 2019 study of over 6,000 webcam users by the webcam platform Stripchat. The study found that over 40% of its users had developed significant relationships with their cam models, ranging from friendship to deep emotional connections.


title: Webcam model

text: When webcam models create their live webcasts, they perform the activity known as "camming". A third-party hosting website which transmits multiple webcam models' video-streams is known as a "camming site". Webcam models mostly perform individually in separate video chat rooms, frequently referred to as "rooms".


title: Webcam model

text: The term "camwhore" was first used in print in November 2001; however, the label is considered derogatory and pejorative. The term has also been used pejoratively towards non-explicit female streamers on live streaming platforms such as Twitch and YouTube.


title: Webcam model

text: As of 2016, the money generated by camming sites was upwards of US$2 billion annually. The pornography business as a whole is estimated to be about $5 billion. According to the web traffic analysis service Compete.com, LiveJasmin generates more than 9 million unique viewers a month. Similar webcam model hosting sites such as Chaturbate, CAM4, and MyFreeCams boast 4.1 million, 3.7 million and 2 million unique monthly visitors, respectively. Certain hosting sites such as the aforementioned Chaturbate, LiveJasmin, ManyVids, and many other providers also offer payment in cryptocurrency.


title: Webcam model

text: The decentralized business model of camming has upended the pornography industry in multiple ways. Camming revenue has been severely cutting into the profits of the pornographic movie business, which has also been eroded for several years by piracy and the distribution of free sexual content on the Internet. The pornographic film industry used to be male-dominated, except for the performers. Since camming requires only a video camera, broadband service, and a computer, there has now been a power reversal, and female webcam performers are driving the industry. Todd Blatt, a former pornographic movie producer, has said, "If you're the middle guy who has been eating off this industry for 20 years, it's a big change. The girls don't need anybody."


title: Webcam model

text: The new revolution that the decentralized camming industry has brought also challenged many cultural stereotypes concerning both the camgirls and their customers. Ethnography researcher Dr Theresa Senft became a camgirl for a year while doing four years of research for her 2008 book "Camgirls: Celebrity and Community in the Age of Social Networks". Senft has described herself as "the first academic camgirl" while becoming a "camgirl writing about camgirls." Anna Katzen, a camgirl who has a postgraduate degree from Harvard, stated during an interview:


title: Webcam model

text: Webcam models typically make use of third-party websites to stream their real-time video performances on the Internet. Some sites charge viewers a fixed fee per minute, although many allow free access for unregistered visitors. These Internet hosting websites, known as "camming sites", take care of the technical work hosting the video feed broadcast, processing payments, providing an intuitive interface, advertising so that the cam model only has to focus on the actual shows for their video chat room.


title: Webcam model

text: A fee can be charged for service as a percentage of the revenue made by the model. To improve security and anonymity, some webcamming services (such as Live Stars) use blockchain technology to handle the payment and to protect the model's entered personal information. SpankChain is another similar camming site and cryptocurrency.


title: Webcam model

text: By presenting hundreds of different models via individual chat rooms, a camming site becomes a talent aggregator and middleman. Though a camming website may carry many hundreds of models, they frequently provide an interface for the viewer to easily switch between the most-visited models' rooms, and that interface occasionally resembles the multiple channel selection of cable television.


title: Webcam model

text: Camming sites typically supply each webcam model with an individual profile webpage where the performer can describe themselves and more importantly, create a virtual store where they can sell items like videos, photos, personal clothing, and memberships to their fan club. The profile page's virtual store creates a stream of passive income, meaning that even if a camgirl is not online and performing, she can still generate money while fans come to the ever-present profile page to purchase its wares. Some of the most popular items are homemade videos cam models make of themselves. While most of these videos are sexual in nature, they often include elements of comedy, fashion, and a narration of their lifestyles.


title: Webcam model

text: The affordability of and access to new video recording technology has spawned new variations and genres of pornography since individual women, as well as industry players, can now create content. A profile page might also sell contact information like a personal phone number, a spot on a model's Snapchat contact list, or the ability to send her private messages through a camming site's friends list. The profile page may also suggest tip amounts for real-time performance requests, like a sexy dance, a song request, removal of clothing, or a particular sex act. All prices on a profile page are listed in quantities of tips, which are electronic tokens that the viewer can buy in bunches from the cam site to be given to various models during the performance, or in later purchases upon the profile page.


title: Webcam model

text: The camming site keeps a percentage of the tips, and the amount varies. Big earners can get a bigger chunk of their tips. Commissions earned by webcam models vary widely by website and are usually based on a percentage of gross sales, although sometimes they are in the form of a flat fee. They may also earn money through advertising or commissions by persuading customers to sign up for membership at adult pornographic paysites. Many sites encourage viewers to purchase items from online wish lists. Some webcam models cater to particular fetishes, such as a fascination with feet, and might earn additional money by selling worn socks to patrons. Some models will cater to extremely specific fetishes, as customers with uncommon fetishes tend to pay more. This has been criticized as a "race to the bottom," where webcam models will attempt to outdo each other in perversity. In reaction, cam models on websites such as Chaturbate have developed a culture discouraging engagement in fetishes they consider demeaning.


title: Webcam model

text: Camming sites specify rules and restrictions for their cam models, which in turn tend to give the camming site a distinct style and format. For example, one major free-access site, which only allows female models, fosters an environment where the camgirls are not necessarily obligated to do masturbation shows or even display nudity. Consequently, some of that site's models create a more relaxed "hangout atmosphere" within their rooms that occasionally resembles a talk show. Conversely, another major cam site, which allows men and couples to perform, tends to be more sexual and show-oriented. On some sites, models are not required to show their face on the webcam stream (thus allowing the use of veils, masks, ...). Other cam site rules might prohibit working in a public place so that the model does not get a public indecency arrest, the way that Kendra Sunderland was charged after her 2014 performance inside the Oregon State University Library. Models who violate a camming site's rules may be subjected to a temporary or permanent ban from the cam site.


title: Webcam model

text: Webcam models often rely on social media to interact with existing customers and to meet new customers. This has potential disadvantages; however, mainstream social media platforms often have poorly-defined and changing rules that sex workers can inadvertently break. Having a social media account closed for any reasonlegitimate or otherwisecan severely affect a performer's ability to earn income.


title: Webcam model

text: Some cam models have non-commercial personal web blogs. They use it for contact with fans, blogging about the everyday life of a webcam model, and as a help and guide to aspiring models. Due to social stigma, mainstream media offers no real information about webcam modeling, but rather sensationalist news (incidents and accidents, celebrities involvements...). As such, these blogs are the only window into the life of models.


title: Webcam model

text: Cam studios allow models to rent facilities outside of their homes. These businesses can supply models with video equipment, Internet service, computer, lighting, and furniture. One example was the pornographic film company Kink.com, which rented individual cam studios in the San Francisco Armory by the hour from 2013 until the building was sold in 2018.


title: Webcam model

text: Within some studios, cam models can work by the percentage of business that they bring in, instead of renting studio time. The cam models do not have to pay to join this type of studio and are also not guaranteed a salary. These models can typically charge customers between $1 and $15 per minute, and then the studio keeps half of the gross while the model gets the rest.


title: Webcam model

text: Another workplace option is called a "camgirl mansion", which is a place that provides equipment and broadcast rooms, where multiple camgirls can live and share expenses without a studio owner.


title: Webcam model

text: Various support websites supply general information about business strategies, upcoming conferences, performance tips, and studio equipment reviews. Support sites also advise on how to protect privacy, discourage piracy, avoid Internet security lapses, and prevent financial scams. Some chat websites for cam models provide message boards for the models, which enables them to discuss their work concerns and issues, such as clients who get overly attached.


title: Webcam model

text: Conferences and industry trade shows can also aid cam models by allowing cam models to network and meet others in the profession on a personal level. Cam model Nikki Night provides a coaching service for cam models, in which she advises them on business practices that maximize revenues.


title: Webcam model

text: Due to the controversial nature of pornography, camming, like most sex work, is not considered a legitimate form of labor in most developed countries. As a result, cam models don't receive the same benefits and rights as other employees since they are technically independent contractors. This offers cam models some freedom not offered to other laborers but prevents them from demanding better treatment from the websites that host them. However, in-person sex work is treated more harshly since it is illegal in many Western countries, including the United States. Camming is considered slightly different, since it is considered pornography as a virtue of being filmed.


title: Webcam model

text: Regulation would be beneficial to camming, since it would prevent cam models from being exploited for their labor. However, regulation could also potentially take away cam models' independence, such as sexual freedom and bodily autonomy. Although in-person sex work such as prostitution can be regulated by policing the streets, online sex work is hard to regulate, due to anonymity, and risk of encroaching on content that is risqué, but not necessarily pornographic. In a study on sex work in East Java, Indonesia where a specific district decriminalized sex work while its surround districts did not, researchers found that anti-prostitution laws decreased the use of condoms, which in effect increased the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV.


title: Webcam model

text: In accordance with the 1997 penal code, pornography is illegal in China. The law only permits educational or artistic depictions of sexual intercourse. Historically, the law is not interpreted by the government to include pornography under the umbrella of art. As such, camming faces strict regulation on the internet in contrast to Western countries, where its legal distinction protects it from prostitution. However, camming can also be a form of solace for sex workers since it allows them to escape online where they can avoid persecution for their profession.


title: Webcam model

text: China has planned to extend anti-camming laws to ASMR. The Chinese government claims that ASMR constitutes pornography, but Chinese ASMR content creators dispute this, arguing that pornographic ASMR represents a different category from non-sexual ASMR.


title: Webcam model

text: Sex work is legal in India, but many related elements such as brothels are illegal. Thus, camming is legal in India, but a social stigma remains. There is a narrative that sex workers in India are coerced into their profession, but this is not true of all sex workers. Many sex workers attest that their profession is legitimate labor and should be recognized as such. Due to the illegality of pimping, sex workers like cammers tend to operate independently and thus control their labor and profits.


title: Webcam model

text: Sex work is illegal in the Philippines, but enforcement of the law is not strict such that it is quite commonplace. There is a perception that Filipino sex workers are victims of human trafficking, but this isn't always the case. Camming, in particular, is usually consensual and not always explicitly sexual, likening it more to performance than pornography.


title: Webcam model

text: Sex work and camming in the United Kingdom is heavily regulated by the government. Sex work is not recognized as legitimate employment by the government. As a result, sex workers are often afraid to report crimes committed against them, making sex work a dangerous occupation. Sex workers, both online and offline, are often subject to stalking, unwanted messages, and other forms of harassment. It is hard to obtain concrete conclusions from studies on sex work in the UK due to its tenuous legality. Most studies are conducted through surveys which are subject to biases.


title: Webcam model

text: A sex work researcher, Rachel Stuart, notes a paradox in British law that tends to focus on the uploading of pornographic recordings, but does not deal with erotic performance when streamed upon the Internet through camming. For instance, the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 ban certain acts from being depicted and uploaded by pornography producers in the United Kingdom, and the Digital Economy Act 2017 seeks to restrict minors' access to pornographic material online, yet both laws will have no effect if the performances are "streamed" as opposed to "recorded". Stuart states of the legal conundrum in England, "Performing an explicitly pornographic act via a webcam carries no repercussions, but if the same show is recorded and uploaded, the performer can be liable to a fine."


title: Webcam model

text: Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer who is an expert in obscenity law, said that there was nothing inherently illegal about web model camming shows, as long as the models were over 18, and performed at home or in a model's studio.


title: Webcam model

text: In December 2017, the American FCC voted to do away with net neutrality rules, which previously ensured that Internet service providers treat all data on the Internet as the same, and to not charge differently by user. However, without net neutrality rules, Internet service providers are able to increase costs for companies that need significant bandwidth – like Spotify, Netflix, and (until 2020) CD Baby.


title: Webcam model

text: Since the free-access business model of the camming industry also relies on large bandwidth, these possible new costs could eventually be passed on to camming hosting sites, as well as to the cam models themselves. A politically involved camgirl, Melonie, states: "How many camgirls and webcam customers are going to be able to afford a $200+ monthly bill from their ISP for a high bandwidth connection capable of HD video streaming? How many camgirls are going to be able to continue to devote time to create webcam host programming if the payout percentage is reduced from 30% to 15%?" By early 2018, the new ruling had not been leveraged by ISP's to increase costs; nor had it by mid-2021, when the Biden administration was being lobbied over the possible re-instatement of net neutrality.


title: Webcam model

text: While the conduct of webcam models' clients in chat rooms has been described as generally civil and polite, some models have faced "aggressive sexual language" and online harassment. In 2012, a group of 4chan users harassed a webcam model about her weight until she began crying on camera. Even clients who are polite can behave in ways that makes models feel uncomfortable, such as when clients become overly attached to, or obsessive, about a model; if the client is a regular customer and a heavy tipper, this can make the model feel pressured to give in to the client's requests. Webcam models have occasionally been the targets of cyber-stalkers and blackmailers. Some cam models have been "blackmailed or threatened into performing acts they are not comfortable with. If they don't comply, they run the risk of having their real identity exposed". In one case, Internet trolls revealed the real name, address and phone number of a webcam performer and posted this information, along with explicit photos of her, on social media, and the account was forwarded to her friends and family. As of 2019, it was reported that there is little legal protection for cam models, as most of the case law deals with the regulation of strip clubs and sex shops, or for distribution of products.


title: Webcam model

text: Sex work researcher, Rachel Stuart, reported that while doing her PhD research she encountered webcam models who were concerned about viewers filming and sharing their performances on porn sites, or acquiring personal information which could be used to stalk or blackmail them. In 2013, the New York Times interviewed a woman who prefers to conceal her real identity while working as a camgirl. She revealed that she had been cyber-stalked by a heavy tipper who started making threats and demands about what outfits she should wear. A short while later, she found out that her real name and address had been posted on the Internet along with her cam name. When she complained to the police, they said that they could do nothing, because "putting real information on the Internet is not illegal." She later found out that the same individual had also threatened and outed several other camgirls.


title: Webcam model

text: Another issue faced by cam models is that viewers may record streams or images of the model without their consent and then redistribute them on pornography websites. In addition to taking away the model's ability to choose where their content is shown, unauthorized use has been likened to theft of the model's property, since the porn site will earn money from the video and not the cam model.


title: Webcam model

text: Sex workers have formed support groups where sex workers may give each other advice and possibly cope with harassment and marginalization. The word "camily", a portmanteau of "cam" and "family", refers to communities formed by sex workers to help deal with such issues.


title: Webcam model

text: A "New York Times" report described the story of Justin Berry, a 13-year-old boy who, after hooking up his webcam and listing himself on an online forum in order to make friends, was propositioned by older men to strip and masturbate on camera. CNN referred to him as "in the language of cyberspace... a cam-whore". He started his own paysite, prostituted himself, sold video recordings of his encounters with Mexican prostitutes, and helped hire other underage models. He made several hundred thousand dollars over five years before turning all information over to prosecutors in exchange for immunity.


title: Webcam model

text: In October 2014, a 19-year-old Oregon State University student, Kendra Sunderland, had been working as a camgirl before she made an hour-long video for MyFreeCams.com of herself at the Oregon State University Library, in which she stripped and masturbated on camera for a live audience. She was then charged with public indecency after the show was recorded by someone who was watching MyFreeCams.com online, and then posted it on other sites. Sunderland faced fines up to $6,250 and one year of jail. She pleaded guilty, paid $1,000, and avoided jail. The incident generated headlines around the country and landed Sunderland reported deals with "Playboy", and a contract with "Penthouse"'s parent company Friend Finder Networks purportedly worth six figures. The incident greatly increased Sunderland's popularity, and she has continued to do camming and speak positively of it as a career.


title: Webcam model

text: In Arizona during 2015, a fan took his appreciation of camgirls to an illegal level when he was indicted for spending $476,000 on a company credit card, which he used for tips on camming websites. He spent more than $100,000 on MyFreeCams.com alone, and sent $26,800 to one cam model in particular to pay for her college tuition bill and new tires for her car. According to the indictment, he also purchased flowers, chocolates, electronic equipment, shoes, a TV, a handbag, laptop computer, and an iPod for some of his favorite camgirls.


title: Webcam model

text: In one case, sex traffickers who operated illegal brothels forced an indentured victim to have sex in webcam shows.


title: Webcam model

text: In January 2019, a 29-year-old Grant Amato killed his father, mother and brother and staged the scene as a murder-suicide, placing the gun by his brother’s body. His motivation was an argument with his parents about his infatuation with a webcam model.


title: History of personal computers

text: The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians.


title: History of personal computers

text: An early use of the term "personal computer" appeared in a 3 November 1962, "New York Times" article reporting John W. Mauchly's vision of future computing as detailed at a recent meeting of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Mauchly. stated, "There is no reason to suppose the average boy or girl cannot be master of a "personal computer"".


title: History of personal computers

text: In 1968, a manufacturer took the risk of referring to their product this way, when Hewlett-Packard advertised their "Powerful Computing Genie" as "The New Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer". This advertisement was deemed too extreme for the target audience and replaced with a much drier ad for the HP 9100A programmable calculator.


title: History of personal computers

text: Over the next seven years, the phrase had gained enough recognition that "Byte" magazine referred to its readers in its first edition as "[in] the "personal computing" field", and "Creative Computing" defined the personal computer as a "non-(time)shared system containing sufficient processing power and storage capabilities to satisfy the needs of an individual user." In 1977, three new pre-assembled small computers hit the markets which "Byte" would refer to as the "1977 Trinity" of personal computing. The Apple II and the PET 2001 were advertised as "personal computers", while the TRS-80 was described as a microcomputer used for household tasks including ""personal" financial management". By 1979, over half a million microcomputers were sold and the youth of the day had a new concept of the personal computer.


title: History of personal computers

text: The history of the personal computer as mass-market consumer electronic devices effectively began in 1977 with the introduction of microcomputers, although some mainframe and minicomputers had been applied as single-user systems much earlier. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians.


title: History of personal computers

text: Computer terminals were used for time sharing access to central computers. Before the introduction of the microprocessor in the early 1970s, computers were generally large, costly systems owned by large corporations, universities, government agencies, and similar-sized institutions. End users generally did not directly interact with the machine, but instead would prepare tasks for the computer on off-line equipment, such as card punches. A number of assignments for the computer would be gathered up and processed in batch mode. After the job had completed, users could collect the results. In some cases, it could take hours or days between submitting a job to the computing center and receiving the output.


title: History of personal computers

text: A more interactive form of computer use developed commercially by the middle 1960s. In a time-sharing system, multiple computer terminals let many people share the use of one mainframe computer processor. This was common in business applications and in science and engineering.


title: History of personal computers

text: A different model of computer use was foreshadowed by the way in which early, pre-commercial, experimental computers were used, where one user had exclusive use of a processor. In places such as Carnegie Mellon University and MIT, students with access to some of the first computers experimented with applications that would today be typical of a personal computer; for example, computer aided drafting was foreshadowed by T-square, a program written in 1961, and an ancestor of today's computer games was found in Spacewar! in 1962. Some of the first computers that might be called "personal" were early minicomputers such as the LINC and PDP-8, and later on VAX and larger minicomputers from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Data General, Prime Computer, and others. By today's standards, they were very large (about the size of a refrigerator) and cost prohibitive (typically tens of thousands of US dollars). However, they were much smaller, less expensive, and generally simpler to operate than many of the mainframe computers of the time. Therefore, they were accessible for individual laboratories and research projects. Minicomputers largely freed these organizations from the batch processing and bureaucracy of a commercial or university computing center.


title: History of personal computers

text: In addition, minicomputers were relatively interactive and soon had their own operating systems. The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers because of its graphical user interface, bit-mapped high resolution screen, large internal and external memory storage, mouse, and special software.


title: History of personal computers

text: In 1945, Vannevar Bush published an essay called "As We May Think" in which he outlined a possible solution to the growing problem of information storage and retrieval. In 1968, SRI researcher Douglas Engelbart gave what was later called The Mother of All Demos, in which he offered a preview of things that have become the staples of daily working life in the 21st century: e-mail, hypertext, word processing, video conferencing, and the mouse. The demo was the culmination of research in Engelbart's Augmentation Research Center laboratory, which concentrated on applying computer technology to facilitate creative human thought.


title: History of personal computers

text: The minicomputer ancestors of the modern personal computer used early integrated circuit (microchip) technology, which reduced size and cost, but they contained no microprocessor. This meant that they were still large and difficult to manufacture just like their mainframe predecessors. After the "computer-on-a-chip" was commercialized, the cost to manufacture a computer system dropped dramatically. The arithmetic, logic, and control functions that previously occupied several costly circuit boards were now available in one integrated circuit, making it possible to produce them in high volume. Concurrently, advances in the development of solid state memory eliminated the bulky, costly, and power-hungry magnetic core memory used in prior generations of computers.


title: History of personal computers

text: The single-chip microprocessor was made possible by an improvement in MOS technology, the silicon-gate MOS chip, developed in 1968 by Federico Faggin, who later used silicon-gate MOS technology to develop the first single-chip microprocessor, the Intel 4004, in 1971.


title: History of personal computers

text: A few researchers at places such as SRI and Xerox PARC were working on computers that a single person could use and that could be connected by fast, versatile networks: not home computers, but personal ones. At RCA, Joseph Weisbecker designed and built a true home computer known as FRED, but this saw mixed interest from management. The CPU design was released as the COSMAC in 1974 and several experimental machines using it were built in 1975, but RCA declined to market any of these until introducing the COSMAC ELF in 1976, in kit form. By this time a number of other machines had entered the market.


title: History of personal computers

text: After the introduction of the Intel 4004 in 1972, microprocessor costs declined rapidly. In 1974 the American electronics magazine "Radio-Electronics" described the Mark-8 computer kit, based on the Intel 8008 processor. In January of the following year, "Popular Electronics" magazine published an article describing a kit based on the Intel 8080, a somewhat more powerful and easier to use processor. The Altair 8800 sold remarkably well even though initial memory size was limited to a few hundred bytes and there was no software available. However, the Altair kit was much less costly than an Intel development system of the time and so was purchased by companies interested in developing microprocessor control for their own products. Expansion memory boards and peripherals were soon listed by the original manufacturer, and later by plug compatible manufacturers. The very first Microsoft product was a 4 kilobyte paper tape BASIC interpreter, which allowed users to develop programs in a higher-level language. The alternative was to hand-assemble machine code that could be directly loaded into the microcomputer's memory using a front panel of toggle switches, pushbuttons and LED displays. While the hardware front panel emulated those used by early mainframe and minicomputers, after a very short time I/O through a terminal was the preferred human/machine interface, and front panels became extinct.


title: History of personal computers

text: Simon was a project developed by Edmund Berkeley and presented in a thirteen articles series issued in "Radio-Electronics" magazine, from October 1950. Although there were far more advanced machines at the time of its construction, the Simon represented the first experience of building an automatic simple digital computer, for educational purposes. In fact, its ALU had only 2 bits, and the total memory was 12 bits (2bits x6). In 1950, it was sold for US$600.


title: History of personal computers

text: The IBM 610 was designed between 1948 and 1957 by John Lentz at the Watson Lab at Columbia University as the Personal Automatic Computer (PAC) and announced by IBM as the 610 Auto-Point in 1957. Although it was faulted for its speed, the IBM 610 handled floating-point arithmetic naturally. With a price tag of $55,000, only 180 units were produced.


title: History of personal computers

text: The Elea 9003 is one of a series of mainframe computers Olivetti developed starting in the late 1950s. The first prototype was created in 1957. The system, made entirely with transistors for high performance, was conceived, designed and developed by a small group of researchers led by Mario Tchou (1924–1961). It was the first solid-state computer designed (it was fully manufactured in Italy). The knowledge obtained was applied a few years later in the development of the successful Programma 101 electronic calculator.


title: History of personal computers

text: Designed in 1962, the LINC was an early laboratory computer especially designed for interactive use with laboratory instruments. Some of the early LINC computers were assembled from kits of parts by the end users.


title: History of personal computers

text: First produced in 1965, the Programma 101 was one of the first printing programmable calculators. It was designed and produced by the Italian company Olivetti with Pier Giorgio Perotto being the lead developer. The Olivetti Programma 101 was presented at the 1965 New York World's Fair after two years work (1962- 1964). Over 44,000 units were sold worldwide; in the US its cost at launch was $3,200. It was targeted to offices and scientific entities for their daily work because of its high computing capabilities in a small space with a relatively low cost; NASA was amongst its first owners. Built without integrated circuits or microprocessors, it used only transistors, resistors and condensers for its processing, the Programma 101 had features found in modern personal computers, such as memory, keyboard, printing unit, magnetic card reader/recorder, control and arithmetic unit. HP later copied the Programma 101 architecture for its HP9100 series.


title: History of personal computers

text: Released in June 1970, the programmable terminal called the Datapoint 2200 is among the earliest known devices that bears significant resemblance to the modern personal computer, with a CRT screen, keyboard, programmability, and program storage. It was made by CTC (now known as Datapoint) and was a complete system in a case with the approximate footprint of an IBM Selectric typewriter.


title: History of personal computers

text: The system's CPU was constructed from roughly a hundred (mostly) TTL logic components, which are groups of gates, latches, counters, etc. The company had commissioned Intel, and also Texas Instruments, to develop a single-chip CPU with that same functionality. Texas Instruments designed a chip rather quickly, based on Intel's early drawings. But their attempt had several bugs and so did not work very well. Intel's version was delayed and both were a little too slow for CTC's needs. A deal was made that in return for not charging CTC for the development work, Intel could instead sell the processor as their own product, along with the supporting ICs they had developed. The first customer was Seiko, which approached Intel early on with this idea, based on what they had seen Busicom do with the 4004.


title: History of personal computers

text: This became the Intel 8008. Although it required several additional ICs, it is generally known as the first 8-bit microprocessor. The requirements of the Datapoint 2200 determined the 8008 architecture, which was later expanded into the 8080 and the Z80 upon which CP/M was designed. These CPUs in turn influenced the 8086, which defined the whole line of "x86" processors used in all IBM-compatible PCs to this day (2020).


title: History of personal computers

text: Although the design of the Datapoint 2200's TTL based bit serial CPU and the Intel 8008 were technically very different, they were largely software-compatible. From a software perspective, the Datapoint 2200 therefore functioned as if it were using an 8008.


title: History of personal computers

text: The Kenbak-1, released in early 1971, is considered by the Computer History Museum to be the world's first personal computer. It was designed and invented by John Blankenbaker of Kenbak Corporation in 1970, and was first sold in early 1971. Unlike a modern personal computer, the Kenbak-1 was built of small-scale integrated circuits, and did not use a microprocessor. The system first sold for US$750. Only around 40 machines were ever built and sold. In 1973, production of the Kenbak-1 stopped as Kenbak Corporation folded.


title: History of personal computers

text: With only 256 bytes of memory, an 8-bit word size, input and output restricted to lights and switches, and no apparent way to extend its power, the Kenbak-1 was most useful for learning the principles of programming but not capable of running application programs. Interestingly, 256 bytes of memory, 8 bit word size, and I/O limited to switches and lights on the front panel are also characteristics of the 1975 Altair 8800, whose fate was diametrically opposed to that of the Kenbak. The differentiating factor might have been the extensibility of the Altair, without which it was practically useless.


title: History of personal computers

text: The French company R2E was formed by two former engineers of the Intertechnique company to sell their Intel 8008-based microcomputer design. The system was developed at the Institut national de la recherche agronomique to automate hygrometric measurements. The system ran at 500 kHz and included 16 KB of memory, and sold for 8500 Francs, about $1300US.


title: History of personal computers

text: A bus, called Pluribus, was introduced that allowed connection of up to 14 boards. Boards for digital I/O, analog I/O, memory, floppy disk were available from R2E. The Micral operating system was initially called Sysmic, and was later renamed Prologue.


title: History of personal computers

text: R2E was absorbed by Groupe Bull in 1978. Although Groupe Bull continued the production of Micral computers, it was not interested in the personal computer market, and Micral computers were mostly confined to highway toll gates (where they remained in service until 1992) and similar niche markets.