title: Keystroke logging

text: Automatic form-filling programs may prevent keylogging by removing the requirement for a user to type personal details and passwords using the keyboard. Form fillers are primarily designed for Web browsers to fill in checkout pages and log users into their accounts. Once the user's account and credit card information has been entered into the program, it will be automatically entered into forms without ever using the keyboard or clipboard, thereby reducing the possibility that private data is being recorded. However, someone with physical access to the machine may still be able to install software that can intercept this information elsewhere in the operating system or while in transit on the network. (Transport Layer Security (TLS) reduces the risk that data in transit may be intercepted by network sniffers and proxy tools.)


title: Keystroke logging

text: Using one-time passwords may prevent unauthorized access to an account which has had its login details exposed to an attacker via a keylogger, as each password is invalidated as soon as it is used. This solution may be useful for someone using a public computer. However, an attacker who has remote control over such a computer can simply wait for the victim to enter their credentials before performing unauthorized transactions on their behalf while their session is active.


title: Keystroke logging

text: Use of smart cards or other security tokens may improve security against replay attacks in the face of a successful keylogging attack, as accessing protected information would require both the (hardware) security token as well as the appropriate password/passphrase. Knowing the keystrokes, mouse actions, display, clipboard, etc. used on one computer will not subsequently help an attacker gain access to the protected resource. Some security tokens work as a type of hardware-assisted one-time password system, and others implement a cryptographic challenge–response authentication, which can improve security in a manner conceptually similar to one time passwords. Smartcard readers and their associated keypads for PIN entry may be vulnerable to keystroke logging through a so-called supply chain attack where an attacker substitutes the card reader/PIN entry hardware for one which records the user's PIN.


title: Keystroke logging

text: Most on-screen keyboards (such as the on-screen keyboard that comes with Windows XP) send normal keyboard event messages to the external target program to type text. Software key loggers can log these typed characters sent from one program to another.


title: Keystroke logging

text: These programs attempt to trick keyloggers by introducing random keystrokes, although this simply results in the keylogger recording more information than it needs to. An attacker has the task of extracting the keystrokes of interest—the security of this mechanism, specifically how well it stands up to cryptanalysis, is unclear.


title: Keystroke logging

text: Similar to on-screen keyboards, speech-to-text conversion software can also be used against keyloggers, since there are no typing or mouse movements involved. The weakest point of using voice-recognition software may be how the software sends the recognized text to target software after the user's speech has been processed.


title: Keystroke logging

text: Many PDAs and lately tablet PCs can already convert pen (also called stylus) movements on their touchscreens to computer understandable text successfully. Mouse gestures use this principle by using mouse movements instead of a stylus. Mouse gesture programs convert these strokes to user-definable actions, such as typing text. Similarly, graphics tablets and light pens can be used to input these gestures, however, these are becoming less common.


title: Keystroke logging

text: With the help of many programs, a seemingly meaningless text can be expanded to a meaningful text and most of the time context-sensitively, e.g. "en.wikipedia.org" can be expanded when a web browser window has the focus. The biggest weakness of this technique is that these programs send their keystrokes directly to the target program. However, this can be overcome by using the 'alternating' technique described below, i.e. sending mouse clicks to non-responsive areas of the target program, sending meaningless keys, sending another mouse click to the target area (e.g. password field) and switching back-and-forth.


title: Keystroke logging

text: Alternating between typing the login credentials and typing characters somewhere else in the focus window can cause a keylogger to record more information than it needs to, but this could be easily filtered out by an attacker. Similarly, a user can move their cursor using the mouse while typing, causing the logged keystrokes to be in the wrong order e.g., by typing a password beginning with the last letter and then using the mouse to move the cursor for each subsequent letter. Lastly, someone can also use context menus to remove, cut, copy, and paste parts of the typed text without using the keyboard. An attacker who can capture only parts of a password will have a larger key space to attack if they choose to execute a brute-force attack.


title: Keystroke logging

text: Another very similar technique uses the fact that any selected text portion is replaced by the next key typed. e.g., if the password is "secret", one could type "s", then some dummy keys "asdf". These dummy characters could then be selected with the mouse, and the next character from the password "e" typed, which replaces the dummy characters "asdf".


title: Keystroke logging

text: These techniques assume incorrectly that keystroke logging software cannot directly monitor the clipboard, the selected text in a form, or take a screenshot every time a keystroke or mouse click occurs. They may, however, be effective against some hardware keyloggers.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Medieval warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. Technological, cultural, and social advancements had forced a severe transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics and the role of cavalry and artillery (see military history). In terms of fortification, the Middle Ages saw the emergence of the castle in Europe, which then spread to the Holy Land (modern day Israel and Palestine).


title: Medieval warfare

text: Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus wrote "De re militari (Concerning Military Matters)" possibly in the late 4th century. Described by historian Walter Goffart as "the bible of warfare throughout the Middle Ages", "De re militari" was widely distributed through the Latin West. While Western Europe relied on a single text for the basis of its military knowledge, the Byzantine Empire in Southeastern Europe had a succession of military writers. Though Vegetius had no military experience and "De re militari" was derived from the works of Cato and Frontinus, his books were the standard for military discourse in Western Europe from their production until the 16th century.


title: Medieval warfare

text: "De re militari" was divided into five books: who should be a soldier and the skills they needed to learn, the composition and structure of an army, field tactics, how to conduct and withstand sieges, and the role of the navy. According to Vegetius, infantry was the most important element of an army because it was cheap compared to cavalry and could be deployed on any terrain. One of the tenets he put forward was that a general should only engage in battle when he was sure of victory or had no other choice. As archaeologist Robert Liddiard explains, "Pitched battles, particularly in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, were rare."


title: Medieval warfare

text: Although his work was widely reproduced, and over 200 copies, translations, and extracts survive today, the extent to which Vegetius affected the actual practice of warfare as opposed to its concept is unclear because of his habit of stating the obvious. Historian Michael Clanchy noted "the medieval axiom that laymen are illiterate and its converse that clergy are literate", so it may be the case that few soldiers read Vegetius' work. While their Roman predecessors were well-educated and had been experienced in warfare, the European nobility of the early Medieval period were not renowned for their education, but from the 12th century, it became more common for them to read.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Some soldiers regarded the experience of warfare as more valuable than reading about it; for example, Geoffroi de Charny, a 14th century knight who wrote about warfare, recommended that his audience should learn by observing and asking advice from their superiors. Vegetius remained prominent in medieval literature on warfare, although it is uncertain to what extent his work was read by the warrior class as opposed to the clergy. In 1489, King Henry VII of England commissioned the translation of "De re militari" into English, "so every gentleman born to arms and all manner of men of war, captains, soldiers, victuallers and all others would know how they ought to behave in the feats of wars and battles".


title: Medieval warfare

text: In Europe, breakdowns in centralized power led to the rise of several groups that turned to large-scale pillage as a source of income. Most notably the Vikings, Arabs, Mongols, Huns, Cumans, Tartars, and Magyars raided significantly. As these groups were generally small and needed to move quickly, building fortifications was a good way to provide refuge and protection for the people and the wealth in the region.


title: Medieval warfare

text: These fortifications evolved throughout the Middle Ages, the most important form being the castle, a structure which has become almost synonymous with the Medieval era in the popular eye. The castle served as a protected place for the local elites. Inside a castle they were protected from bands of raiders and could send mounted warriors to drive the enemy from the area, or to disrupt the efforts of larger armies to supply themselves in the region by gaining local superiority over foraging parties that would be impossible against the whole enemy host.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Fortifications were a very important part of warfare because they provided safety to the lord, his family, and his servants. They provided refuge from armies too large to face in open battle. The ability of the heavy cavalry to dominate a battle on an open field was useless against fortifications. Building siege engines was a time-consuming process, and could seldom be effectively done without preparations before the campaign. Many sieges could take months, if not years, to weaken or demoralize the defenders sufficiently. Fortifications were an excellent means of ensuring that the elite could not be easily dislodged from their lands – as Count Baldwin of Hainaut commented in 1184 on seeing enemy troops ravage his lands from the safety of his castle, "they can't take the land with them".


title: Medieval warfare

text: In the Medieval period besieging armies used a wide variety of siege engines including: scaling ladders; battering rams; siege towers and various types of catapults such as the mangonel, onager, ballista, and trebuchet. Siege techniques also included mining in which tunnels were dug under a section of the wall and then rapidly collapsed to destabilize the wall's foundation. Another technique was to bore into the enemy walls, however, this was not nearly as effective as other methods due to the thickness of castle walls.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Advances in the prosecution of sieges encouraged the development of a variety of defensive counter-measures. In particular, Medieval fortifications became progressively stronger – for example, the advent of the concentric castle from the period of the Crusades – and more dangerous to attackers – witness the increasing use of machicolations, as well the preparation of hot or incendiary substances. Arrow slits, concealed doors for sallies, and deep water wells were also integral to resisting siege at this time. Designers of castles paid particular attention to defending entrances, protecting gates with drawbridges, portcullises and barbicans. Wet animal skins were often draped over gates to repel fire. Moats and other water defences, whether natural or augmented, were also vital to defenders.


title: Medieval warfare

text: In the Middle Ages, virtually all large cities had city walls – Dubrovnik in Dalmatia is an impressive and well-preserved example – and more important cities had citadels, forts or castles. Great effort was expended to ensure a good water supply inside the city in case of siege. In some cases, long tunnels were constructed to carry water into the city. In other cases, such as the Ottoman siege of Shkodra, Venetian engineers had designed and installed cisterns that were fed by rain water channeled by a system of conduits in the walls and buildings. Complex systems of tunnels were used for storage and communications in medieval cities like Tábor in Bohemia. Against these would be matched the mining skills of teams of trained sappers, who were sometimes employed by besieging armies.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Until the invention of gunpowder-based weapons (and the resulting higher-velocity projectiles), the balance of power and logistics favoured the defender. With the invention of gunpowder, the traditional methods of defence became less and less effective against a determined siege.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The medieval knight was usually a mounted and armoured soldier, often connected with nobility or royalty, although (especially in north-eastern Europe) knights could also come from the lower classes, and could even be enslaved persons. The cost of their armour, horses, and weapons was great; this, among other things, helped gradually transform the knight, at least in western Europe, into a distinct social class separate from other warriors. During the crusades, holy orders of Knights fought in the Holy Land (see Knights Templar, the Hospitallers, etc.).


title: Medieval warfare

text: The light cavalry consisted usually of lighter armed and armoured men, who could have lances, javelins or missile weapons, such as bows or crossbows. In much of the Middle Ages, light cavalry usually consisted of wealthy commoners. Later in the Middle Ages, light cavalry would also include sergeants who were men who had trained as knights but could not afford the costs associated with the title. Light cavalry was used as scouts, skirmishers or outflankers. Many countries developed their styles of light cavalries, such as Hungarian mounted archers, Spanish jinetes, Italian and German mounted crossbowmen and English currours.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The infantry was recruited and trained in a wide variety of manners in different regions of Europe all through the Middle Ages, and probably always formed the most numerous part of a medieval field army. Many infantrymen in prolonged wars would be mercenaries. Most armies contained significant numbers of spearmen, archers and other unmounted soldiers.


title: Medieval warfare

text: In the earliest Middle Ages, it was the obligation of every noble to respond to the call to battle with his equipment, archers, and infantry. This decentralized system was necessary due to the social order of the time but could lead to motley forces with variable training, equipment and abilities. The more resources the noble had access to, the better his troops would typically be.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Typically the feudal armies consisted of a core of highly skilled knights and their household troops, mercenaries hired for the time of the campaign and feudal levies fulfilling their feudal obligations, who usually were little more than rabble. They could, however, be efficient in disadvantageous terrain. Towns and cities could also field militias.


title: Medieval warfare

text: As central governments grew in power, a return to the citizen and mercenary armies of the classical period also began, as central levies of the peasantry began to be the central recruiting tool. It was estimated that the best infantrymen came from the younger sons of free land-owning yeomen, such as the English archers and Swiss pikemen. England was one of the most centralized states in the Late Middle Ages, and the armies that fought the Hundred Years' War were mostly paid professionals.


title: Medieval warfare

text: In theory, every Englishman had an obligation to serve for forty days. Forty days was not long enough for a campaign, especially one on the continent. Thus the scutage was introduced, whereby most Englishmen paid to escape their service and this money was used to create a permanent army. However, almost all high medieval armies in Europe were composed of a great deal of paid core troops, and there was a large mercenary market in Europe from at least the early 12th century.


title: Medieval warfare

text: As the Middle Ages progressed in Italy, Italian cities began to rely mostly on mercenaries to do their fighting rather than the militias that had dominated the early and high medieval period in this region. These would be groups of career soldiers who would be paid a set rate. Mercenaries tended to be effective soldiers, especially in combination with standing forces, but in Italy, they came to dominate the armies of the city-states. This made them problematic; while at war they were considerably more reliable than a standing army, at peacetime they proved a risk to the state itself like the Praetorian Guard had once been.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Mercenary-on-mercenary warfare in Italy led to relatively bloodless campaigns which relied as much on manoeuvre as on battles, since the condottieri recognized it was more efficient to attack the enemy's ability to wage war rather than his battle forces, discovering the concept of indirect warfare 500 years before Sir Basil Liddell Hart, and attempting to attack the enemy supply lines, his economy and his ability to wage war rather than risking an open battle, and manoeuvre him into a position where risking a battle would have been suicidal. Machiavelli understood this indirect approach as cowardice.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The practice of carrying relics into battle is a feature that distinguishes medieval warfare from its predecessors or early modern warfare and possibly inspired by biblical references. The presence of relics was believed to be an important source of supernatural power that served both as a spiritual weapon and a form of defence; the relics of martyrs were considered by Saint John Chrysostom much more powerful than "walls, trenches, weapons and hosts of soldiers"


title: Medieval warfare

text: In Italy, the "carroccio" or "carro della guerra", the "war wagon", was an elaboration of this practice that developed during the 13th century. The "carro della guerra" of Milan was described in detail in 1288 by Bonvesin de la Riva in his book on the "Marvels of Milan". Wrapped in scarlet cloth and drawn by three yoke of oxen that were caparisoned in white with the red cross of Saint Ambrose, the city's patron, it carried a crucifix so massive it took four men to step it in place, like a ship's mast.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Medieval warfare largely predated the use of supply trains, which meant that armies had to acquire food supplies from the territory they were passing through. This meant that large-scale looting by soldiers was unavoidable, and was actively encouraged in the 14th century with its emphasis on "chevauchée" tactics, where mounted troops would burn and pillage enemy territory in order to distract and demoralize the enemy while denying them their supplies.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Through the medieval period, soldiers were responsible for supplying themselves, either through foraging, looting, or purchases. Even so, military commanders often provided their troops with food and supplies, but this would be provided instead of the soldiers' wages, or soldiers would be expected to pay for it from their wages, either at cost or even with a profit.


title: Medieval warfare

text: In 1294, the same year John II de Balliol of Scotland refused to support Edward I of England's planned invasion of France, Edward I implemented a system in Wales and Scotland where sheriffs would acquire foodstuffs, horses and carts from merchants with compulsory sales at prices fixed below typical market prices under the Crown's rights of prise and purveyance. These goods would then be transported to Royal Magazines in southern Scotland and along the Scottish border where English conscripts under his command could purchase them. This continued during the First War of Scottish Independence which began in 1296, though the system was unpopular and was ended with Edward I's death in 1307.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Starting under the rule of Edward II in 1307 and ending under the rule of Edward III in 1337, the English instead used a system where merchants would be asked to meet armies with supplies for the soldiers to purchase. This led to discontent as the merchants saw an opportunity to profiteer, forcing the troops to pay well above normal market prices for food.


title: Medieval warfare

text: As Edward III went to war with France in the Hundred Years' War (starting in 1337), the English returned to a practice of foraging and raiding to meet their logistical needs. This practice lasted throughout the war, extending through the remainder of Edward III's reign into the reign of Henry VI.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The waters surrounding Europe can be grouped into two types which affected the design of craft that traveled and therefore the warfare. The Mediterranean and Black Seas were free of large tides, generally calm, and had predictable weather. The seas around the north and west of Europe experienced stronger and less predictable weather. The weather gauge, the advantage of having a following wind, was an important factor in naval battles, particularly to the attackers. Typically westerlies (winds blowing from west to east) dominated Europe, giving naval powers to the west an advantage. Medieval sources on the conduct of medieval naval warfare are less common than those about land-based war. Most medieval chroniclers had no experience of life on the sea and generally were not well informed. Maritime archaeology has helped provide information.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Early in the medieval period, ships in the context of warfare were used primarily for transporting troops. In the Mediterranean, naval warfare in the Middle Ages was similar to that under late Roman Empire: fleets of galleys would exchange missile fire and then try to board bow first to allow marines to fight on deck. This mode of naval warfare remained the same into the early modern period, as, for example, at the Battle of Lepanto. Famous admirals included Roger of Lauria, Andrea Doria and Hayreddin Barbarossa.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Galleys were not suitable for the colder and more turbulent North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, although they saw occasional use. Bulkier ships were developed which were primarily sail-driven, although the long lowboard Viking-style rowed longship saw use well into the 15th century. Their main purpose in the north remained the transportation of soldiers to fight on the decks of the opposing ship (as, for example, at the Battle of Svolder or the Battle of Sluys).


title: Medieval warfare

text: Late medieval sailing warships resembled floating fortresses, with towers in the bows and at the stern (respectively, the forecastle and aftcastle). The large superstructure made these warships quite unstable, but the decisive defeats that the more mobile but considerably lower boarded longships suffered at the hands of high-boarded cogs in the 15th century ended the issue of which ship type would dominate northern European warfare.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The introduction of guns was the first steps towards major changes in naval warfare, but it only slowly changed the dynamics of ship-to-ship combat. The first guns on ships were introduced in the 14th century and consisted of small wrought-iron pieces placed on the open decks and in the fighting tops, often requiring only one or two men to handle them. They were designed to injure, kill or simply stun, shock and frighten the enemy before boarding.


title: Medieval warfare

text: As guns were made more durable to withstand stronger gunpowder charges, they increased their potential to inflict critical damage to the vessel rather than just their crews. Since these guns were much heavier than the earlier anti-personnel weapons, they had to be placed lower in the ships, and fire from gunports, to avoid ships becoming unstable. In Northern Europe the technique of building ships with clinker planking made it difficult to cut ports in the hull; clinker-built (or clench-built) ships had much of their structural strength in the outer hull. The solution was the gradual adoption of carvel-built ships that relied on an internal skeleton structure to bear the weight of the ship.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The first ships to actually mount heavy cannon capable of sinking ships were galleys, with large wrought-iron pieces mounted directly on the timbers in the bow. The first example is known from a woodcut of a Venetian galley from 1486. Heavy artillery on galleys was mounted in the bow which fit conveniently with the long-standing tactical tradition of attacking head-on and bow-first. The ordnance on galleys was quite heavy from its introduction in the 1480s, and capable of quickly demolishing medieval-style stone walls that still prevailed until the 16th century.


title: Medieval warfare

text: This temporarily upended the strength of older seaside fortresses, which had to be rebuilt to cope with gunpowder weapons. The addition of guns also improved the amphibious abilities of galleys as they could assault supported with heavy firepower, and could be even more effectively defended when beached stern-first. Galleys and similar oared vessels remained uncontested as the most effective gun-armed warships in theory until the 1560s, and in practice for a few decades more, and were considered a grave risk to sailing warships.


title: Medieval warfare

text: In the Medieval period, the mounted cavalry long held sway on the battlefield. Heavily armoured mounted knights represented a formidable foe for reluctant peasant draftees and lightly armoured freemen. To defeat mounted cavalry, infantry used swarms of missiles or a tightly packed phalanx of men, techniques honed in antiquity by the Greeks.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The use of long pikes and densely packed foot troops was not uncommon in the Middle Ages. The Flemish footmen at the Battle of the Golden Spurs met and overcame French knights in 1302, as the Lombards did in Legnano in 1176 and the Scots held their own against heavily armoured English cavalry. During the St. Louis crusade, dismounted French knights formed a tight lance-and-shield phalanx to repel Egyptian cavalry. The Swiss used pike tactics in the late medieval period. While pikemen usually grouped and awaited a mounted attack, the Swiss developed flexible formations and aggressive manoeuvring, forcing their opponents to respond. The Swiss won at Morgarten, Laupen, Sempach, Grandson and Murten, and between 1450 and 1550 every leading prince in Europe (except the English and Scottish) hired Swiss pikemen, or emulated their tactics and weapons (e.g., the German Landsknechte).


title: Medieval warfare

text: The Welsh & English longbowman used a single-piece longbow (but some bows later developed a composite design) to deliver arrows that could penetrate contemporary mail and damage/dent plate armour. The longbow was a difficult weapon to master, requiring long years of use and constant practice. A skilled longbowman could shoot about 12 shots per minute. This rate of fire was far superior to competing weapons like the crossbow or early gunpowder weapons. The nearest competitor to the longbow was the much more expensive crossbow, used often by urban militias and mercenary forces. The crossbow had greater penetrating power and did not require the extended years of training. However, it lacked the rate of fire of the longbow.


title: Medieval warfare

text: At Crécy and Agincourt bowmen unleashed clouds of arrows into the ranks of knights. At Crécy, even 5,000 Genoese crossbowmen could not dislodge them from their hill. At Agincourt, thousands of French knights were brought down by armour-piercing bodkin point arrows and horse-maiming broadheads. Longbowmen decimated an entire generation of the French nobility.


title: Medieval warfare

text: In 1326 the earliest known European picture of a gun appeared in a manuscript by Walter de Milemete. In 1350, Petrarch wrote that the presence of cannons on the battlefield was 'as common and familiar as other kinds of arms'.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Early artillery played a limited role in the Hundred Years' War, and it became indispensable in the Italian Wars of 1494–1559, marking the beginning of early modern warfare.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Charles VIII, during his invasion of Italy, brought with him the first truly mobile siege train: culverins and bombards mounted on wheeled carriages, which could be deployed against an enemy stronghold immediately after arrival.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The initial Muslim conquests began in the 7th century after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and were marked by a century of rapid Arab expansion beyond the Arabian Peninsula under the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates. Under the Rashidun, the Arabs conquered the Persian Empire, along with Roman Syria and Roman Egypt during the Byzantine-Arab Wars, all within just seven years from 633 to 640. Under the Umayyads, the Arabs annexed North Africa and southern Italy from the Romans and the Arab Empire soon stretched from parts of the Indian subcontinent, across Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and southern Italy, to the Iberian Peninsula and the Pyrenees.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The early Arab army mainly consisted of camel-mounted infantry, alongside a few Bedouin cavalry. Constantly outnumbered by their opponent, they did, however, possess the advantage of strategic mobility, their camel-borne nature allowing them to constantly outmaneuver larger Byzantine and Sassanid armies to take prime defensive positions. The Rashidun cavalry, while lacking the number and mounted archery skill of their Roman and Persian counterparts was for the most part skillfully employed, and played a decisive role in many crucial battles such as Battle of Yarmouk. During the 7th century, Arab armies employed weapons such as swords, spears, iron mace and lances. For protection, they used shields and wore helmets and coats of mail, although the latter was extremely rare. The bow and arrow was also utilized. Also, after the naval siege of Constantinople in the 670s, they started to employ greek fire.


title: Medieval warfare

text: In contrast to the Roman and Persian army at the time both had large numbers of heavy infantry and heavy cavalry (cataphracts and clibanarii) that were better equipped, heavily protected, and were more experienced and disciplined. The Arab invasions came at a time when both ancient powers were exhausted from the protracted Byzantine–Sassanid Wars, particularly the bitterly fought Byzantine–Sassanid War of 602–628 which had brought both empires close to collapse. Also, the typically multi-ethnic Byzantine force was always wracked by dissension and lack of command unity, a similar situation also being encountered among the Sassanids who had been embroiled in a bitter civil war for a decade before the coming of the Arabs. In contrast, the Ridda Wars had forged the Caliphate's army into a united and loyal fighting force.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The Vikings were a feared force in Europe because of their savagery and speed of their attacks. Whilst seaborne raids were nothing new at the time, the Vikings refined the practice to a science through their shipbuilding, tactics and training. Unlike other raiders, the Vikings made a lasting impact on the face of Europe. During the Viking age, their expeditions, frequently combining raiding and trading, penetrated most of the old Frankish Empire, the British Isles, the Baltic region, Russia, and both Muslim and Christian Iberia. Many served as mercenaries, and the famed Varangian Guard, serving the Emperor of Constantinople, was drawn principally of Scandinavian warriors.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Viking longships were swift and easily manoeuvered; they could navigate deep seas or shallow rivers, and could carry warriors that could be rapidly deployed directly onto land due to the longships being able to land directly. The longship was the enabler of the Viking style of warfare that was fast and mobile, relying heavily on the element of surprise, and they tended to capture horses for mobility rather than carry them on their ships. The usual method was to approach a target stealthily, strike with surprise and then retire swiftly. The tactics used were difficult to stop, for the Vikings, like guerrilla-style raiders elsewhere, deployed at a time and place of their choosing. The fully armoured Viking raider would wear an iron helmet and a mail hauberk, and fight with a combination of axe, sword, shield, spear or great "Danish" two-handed axe, although the typical raider would be unarmoured, carrying only a bow and arrows, a knife "seax", a shield and spear; the swords and the axes were much less common. Almost by definition, opponents of the Vikings were ill-prepared to fight a force that struck at will, with no warning. European countries with a weak system of government would be unable to organize a suitable response and would naturally suffer the most to Viking raiders. Viking raiders always had the option to fall back in the face of a superior force or stubborn defence and then reappear to attack other locations or retreat to their bases in what is now Sweden, Denmark, Norway and their Atlantic colonies. As time went on, Viking raids became more sophisticated, with coordinated strikes involving multiple forces and large armies, as the "Great Heathen Army" that ravaged Anglo-Saxon England in the 9th century. In time, the Vikings began to hold on to the areas they raided, first wintering and then consolidating footholds for further expansion later.


title: Medieval warfare

text: With the growth of centralized authority in the Scandinavian region, Viking raids, always an expression of "private enterprise", ceased and the raids became pure voyages of conquest. In 1066, King Harald Hardråde of Norway invaded England, only to be defeated by Harold Godwinson. The two rulers had their claims to the English crown (Harald probably primarily on the overlord-ship of Northumbria) and it was this that motivated the battles rather than the lure of plunder.At that point, the Scandinavians had entered their medieval period and consolidated their kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. This period marks the end of significant raider activity both for plunder or conquest. The resurgence of centralized authority throughout Europe limited opportunities for traditional raiding expeditions in the West, whilst the Christianisation of the Scandinavian kingdoms themselves encouraged them to direct their attacks against the still predominantly pagan regions of the eastern Baltic. The Scandinavians started adapting more continental European ways, whilst retaining an emphasis on naval power – the "Viking" clinker-built warship was used in the war until the 14th century at least. However, developments in shipbuilding elsewhere removed the advantage the Scandinavian countries had previously enjoyed at sea, whilst castle building throughout frustrated and eventually ended Viking raids. Natural trading and diplomatic links between Scandinavia and Continental Europe ensured that the Scandinavians kept up to date with continental developments in warfare.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The Scandinavian armies of the High Middle Ages followed the usual pattern of the Northern European armies, but with a stronger emphasis on infantry. The terrain of Scandinavia favoured heavy infantry, and whilst the nobles fought mounted in the continental fashion, the Scandinavian peasants formed a well-armed and well-armoured infantry, of which approximately 30% to 50% would be archers or crossbowmen. The crossbow, the flatbow and the longbow were especially popular in Sweden and Finland. The chainmail, the lamellar armour and the coat of plates were the usual Scandinavian infantry armour before the era of plate armour.


title: Medieval warfare

text: By 1241, having conquered large parts of Russia, the Mongols continued the invasion of Europe with a massive three-pronged advance, following the fleeing Cumans, who had established an uncertain alliance with King Bela IV of Hungary. They first invaded Poland, and finally, Hungary, culminating in the crushing defeat of the Hungarians in the Battle of Mohi. The Mongol aim seems to have consistently been to defeat the Hungarian-Cuman alliance. The Mongols raided across the borders to Austria and Bohemia in the summer when the Great Khan died, and the Mongol princes returned home to elect a new Great Khan.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The Golden Horde would frequently clash with Hungarians, Lithuanians and Poles in the thirteenth century, with two large raids in the 1260s and 1280s respectively. In 1284 the Hungarians repelled the last major raid into Hungary, and in 1287 the Poles repelled a raid against them. The instability in the Golden Horde seems to have quieted the western front of the Horde. Also, the large scale invasions and raiding that had previously characterized the expansion of the Mongols was cut short probably in some part due to the death of the last great Mongol leader, Tamerlane.


title: Medieval warfare

text: The Hungarians and Poles had responded to the mobile threat by extensive fortification-building, army reform in the form of better-armoured cavalry, and refusing battle unless they could control the site of the battlefield to deny the Mongols local superiority. The Lithuanians relied on their forested homelands for defence and used their cavalry for raiding into Mongol-dominated Russia. When attacking fortresses they would launch dead or diseased animals into fortresses to help spread disease.


title: Medieval warfare

text: An early Turkic group, the Seljuks, were known for their cavalry archers. These fierce nomads were often raiding empires, such as the Byzantine Empire, and they scored several victories using mobility and timing to defeat the heavy cataphracts of the Byzantines.


title: Medieval warfare

text: One notable victory was at Manzikert, where conflict among the generals of the Byzantines gave the Turks the perfect opportunity to strike. They hit the cataphracts with arrows, and outmanoeuvred them, then rode down their less mobile infantry with light cavalry that used scimitars. When gunpowder was introduced, the Ottoman Turks of the Ottoman Empire hired the mercenaries that used the gunpowder weapons and obtained their instruction for the Janissaries. Out of these Ottoman soldiers rose the Janissaries ("yeni ceri"; "new soldier"), from which they also recruited many of their heavy infantry. Along with the use of cavalry and early grenades, the Ottomans mounted an offensive in the early Renaissance period and attacked Europe, taking Constantinople by massed infantry assaults.


title: Medieval warfare

text: Like many other nomadic peoples, the Turks featured a core of heavy cavalry from the upper classes. These evolved into the Sipahis (feudal landholders similar to western knights and Byzantine "pronoiai") and Qapukulu ("door slaves", taken from youth like Janissaries and trained to be royal servants and elite soldiers, mainly cataphracts).


title: Paulina Gaitán

text: Paulina Gaitán Ruíz (born February 19, 1992) is a Mexican actress. She is best known throughout Mexican television and movies. She is more recently known for her role in the popular Netflix series, "Narcos", as the devoted young wife of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.


title: Paulina Gaitán

text: Paulina Gaitán was born in Mexico City. Gaitán started acting at age 9 and at the age of 12 had an important role in Mexican director Luis Mandoki's "Innocent Voices", a tale about the civil war in El Salvador.


title: Paulina Gaitán

text: She was the female lead in the Cary Joji Fukunaga film "Sin Nombre", where she played the character of Sayra, who joins her father and uncle when they try to migrate from Honduras to the United States, and ends up travelling with El Casper, a gang member, played by actor Edgar Flores.


title: Paulina Gaitán

text: Gaitán also played a girl kidnapped by sex traffickers in the 2007 movie "Trade" alongside Kevin Kline. She portrayed Sabina, a lead role in the Mexican horror drama "We Are What We Are" ("Somos Lo Que Hay") in 2010. In addition, she has played the role of Zuvely in the short film "En Tus Manos", which was also released in 2010.


title: Paulina Gaitán

text: In 2012, Gaitán starred in the ensemble cast of the ABC Steven Spielberg series "The River". Since 2015, she has starred in the Netflix original series "Narcos" as Tata, the wife of narcoterrorist Pablo Escobar. In 2018, she began starring as Violetta, the female lead in the Amazon Prime Original Series "Diablo Guardián".


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: Sajjan Jindal (born 5 December 1959) is an Indian billionaire industrialist. He is the chairman and managing director of JSW Group of companies diversified in steel, mining, energy, sports, infrastructure and software business.


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: For 2021-2022, he served as the chairman of World Steel Association. He was replaced by POSCO's Jeong-Woo Choi.


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: He is one of the sons of Indian businessman and parliamentarian, Om Prakash Jindal. His youngest brother, Naveen, is a former Member of Parliament of India from the Indian National Congress party and also leading Jindal Steel and Power.


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: Sajjan and his brothers, Prithviraj, Ratan and Naveen, each manage their own businesses that were primarily inherited from their father.


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: Sajjan Jindal holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore.


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: After his graduation he joined the Jindal organisation. He moved to Mumbai to look after the western region operations of O.P. Jindal Group in 1983. He promoted Jindal Iron and Steel Company Ltd. (JISCO), for manufacturing of Cold Rolled and Galvanized Sheet Products in 1989. He promoted Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd. (JVSL), JSW Energy Ltd. (JSWEL), Jindal Praxair Oxygen Ltd. (JPOCL) and Vijaynagar Minerals Private Ltd. (VMPL) to ensure complete integration of the manufacturing progress in 1995. In 2005, his steel companies, JISCO, and JVSL, were merged to form JSW Steel, and a holdings group of the same name.


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: The JSW Group is a multi business conglomerate worth Rs. 717 billion (US$11 billion). The group's companies are:


title: Sajjan Jindal

text: Jindal is married to Sangita Jindal, who is Chairperson of JSW Foundation. Together, the couple has two daughters, Tarini and Tanvi, and a son, Parth.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: Monster Trucks is a 2016 American live action/computer animated monster action comedy film produced by Paramount Animation, Nickelodeon Movies and Disruption Entertainment for Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Chris Wedge, in both his live-action directorial debut and first directorial effort outside of Blue Sky Studios, and written by Derek Connolly, from a story by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger and Matthew Robinson. The film stars Lucas Till, Jane Levy, Amy Ryan, Rob Lowe, Danny Glover, Barry Pepper and Holt McCallany, and follows a high schooler who finds an escaped monster living in his truck.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: The film premiered on December 23, 2016 in France. It was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on January 13, 2017, and received mixed reviews from critics. A box office failure, "Monster Trucks" grossed $64 million worldwide against its $125 million budget.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: Terravex Oil is in the midst of a fracking operation in North Dakota, overseen by CEO Reece Tenneson (Rob Lowe) and geologist Jim Dowd (Thomas Lennon). The operation releases three subterranean creatures from an underground water system and destroys the drilling rig. Two are captured by Terravex, but one of them escapes. Meanwhile, high school senior Tripp Coley (Lucas Till) has taken up a job at a junkyard, where he builds a pickup truck in hopes of being able to leave his town. The truck doesn't have a working drivetrain (no engine). One night, Tripp encounters the escaped creature in the junkyard and captures it, but the creature escapes before he can seek authorities.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: The next day, Tripp, discovers that the creature feeds on oil, and has taken shelter in the hood of his truck. He befriends him, names him Creech, and promises to help him get home. Tripp modifies the truck to give Creech more control as a makeshift engine. The truck acts as a 'wheelchair' for Creech to operate. Meanwhile, Tenneson is still concerned about the incident at the drilling rig, since similar experiments have revealed the existence of other creatures. He decides to protect the company's image by drilling poison into a hole leading to the underwater tunnels, and by sending hired mercenary Burke (Holt McCallany) to kill their captured creatures, to the objection of Jim, as he finds the monsters have significant intelligence and emotions, as well as a hive mind intelligence that allows both of the captured specimens to learn what was taught to one.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: Tripp and Meredith (Jane Levy) go see Tripp's father Wade (Frank Whaley) to seek help, but Wade sells Tripp out to Burke. Tripp and Meredith escape in the truck with Creech. Tripp, Meredith and Creech are chased by Burke and his team along with Rick (Barry Pepper). They escape by jumping over a MRL local with an EMD MP15DC lead train, and camping at a hunting cabin.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: When Creech gets the sense something bad will happen to the other creatures, he heads to Terravex headquarters where other creatures are being held captive. Tripp and Meredith follow Creech. When they arrive, they find Creech's parents, but are attacked by Terravex workers. Creech is captured, and Tripp and Meredith are taken to Tenneson.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: Jim decides to help Tripp and Meredith rescue the creatures. They acquire two more trucks. They modify the trucks for Creech's parents to control. Jim helps the group by stealing the Terravex truck on which Creech's parents are loaded. At the dealership, the creatures take control of the modified trucks, and the group make their escape up the mountain leading to the tunnels.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: Terravex gives chase up the mountain and the group escapes. On the way, Rick helps Tripp and the group escape from Burke, preventing Burke from ramming them off the road and later stealing a large truck to block the road to prevent further pursuit. After realizing the poison has been inserted, Tripp gets into a head-on battle with Burke, who attempts to push him into the drilling hole, but ends when Tripp and Creech overturn Burke's truck, destroying the poison machine and killing Burke when his truck is thrown into the equipment. Creech saves Tripp from drowning before he and his parents depart back home, and Terravex is exposed by the group for the experimentation that was harming the creatures' habitat. Tenneson is arrested for his crimes, Tripp and Rick develop on good terms and together rebuild a V8 engine for the truck, and Tripp and Meredith begin a relationship.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: On July 31, 2013, Paramount Animation announced that they were developing a new live-action/animated franchise, with an entry film titled "Monster Trucks", and Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger set to write the film's script. The pitch was created by Paramount's president Adam Goodman alongside his four year old son. Chris Wedge was set to direct the film, which was produced by Mary Parent, with an initial release date set for May 29, 2015. Production took place in Vancouver Film Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia. On February 19, 2014, Jane Levy and Lucas Till joined the cast of the film. On March 24, Amy Ryan was cast in a role, and later that week, Holt McCallany joined the cast as a villain. On April 1, Frank Whaley and Danny Glover joined the cast of the film. Later that month, Thomas Lennon joined as well, and on April 14, Barry Pepper joined the cast. On April 24, Tucker Albrizzi, who starred in "Big Time Rush", joined the cast, with Rob Lowe added five days later.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: In December 2013, it was announced that the film's production would begin in early April 2014 in Vancouver, with filming wrapping up in mid-July, and the studio Vancouver Film Studios was booked for the production. Principal photography began on April 4, 2014, in Kamloops, British Columbia. Filming was spotted on May 13, 2014 in downtown Chilliwack, British Columbia.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: The release date was shifted several times. It was initially set for May 29, 2015, but on January 26, 2015, the film was pushed back to December 25, 2015, a date first assigned for "". On May 5, 2015, the film was pushed back again, to March 18, 2016. On November 10, 2015, the film's release date was pushed back one final time, to January 13, 2017.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: On September 21, 2016, "The Hollywood Reporter" stated Paramount would take a $115 million writedown on the film because of its expected poor performance at the box office.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: "Monster Trucks" was released on Digital HD on March 28, 2017 and on Blu-ray and DVD on April 11, 2017.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: "Monster Trucks" grossed $33.4 million in the United States and Canada and $31.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $64.5 million.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: In North America, "Monster Trucks" was released alongside the openings of "The Bye Bye Man" and "Sleepless", as well as the wide releases of "Silence", "Patriots Day" and "Live by Night", and was expected to gross $8–10 million from 3,119 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up making $11 million ($14.2 million over the four-day MLK weekend), finishing 7th at the box office.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: Due to its $125 million budget, as well as additional amounts spent on promotion, the film was labeled a box office bomb. "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the film lost the studio $123.1 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Despite flashes of inspiration, the singularly high-concept "Monster Trucks" shows that it takes more than monsters and trucks to create a compelling feature film." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 41 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Some contemporary reviews were more complimentary, however. Kristy Puchko cited it as a "treasure that feels like a heady relic from the '90s" in IndieWire's 2017 critic's survey of the Craziest Hollywood Movies of the 21st Century, while Sean Egan called it a "live-action cartoon that recalls the goofy, good-hearted Amblin family films of yore" in AM New York Metro's Best Films of 2017 list. Further, audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Monster Trucks (film)

text: By 2021, the film's reputation had improved slightly, with Douglas Laman of Looper observing that a cult following had developed for the film, while Chris Evangelista penned an essay for The Guardian arguing for the film's merits.


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: Lark Rise to Candleford is a British television costume drama series, adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943. The first episode aired on 13 January 2008 on BBC One and BBC HD in the UK. In the U.S., the series began airing on select PBS stations in the spring of 2009. A third series began airing in the UK on 10 January 2010. The fourth and final series began on 9 January 2011 on BBC One and BBC One HD, and was filmed during August 2010.


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: It was announced on 22 January 2011 that the show would not be returning for a fifth series. The final series concluded on 13 February 2011.


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: The series is set in the small Oxfordshire hamlet of Lark Rise, and the wealthier neighbouring market town of Candleford towards the end of the 19th century. The series chronicles the daily lives of farmworkers, craftsmen and gentry observing the characters in loving, boisterous and competing communities of families, rivals, friends and neighbours.


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: The story is seen through the eyes of a young girl, Laura Timmins (Olivia Hallinan), as she leaves Lark Rise to start a new life under the wing of her mother's cousin, the independent and effervescent Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha), who is postmistress at the local post office in Candleford. Through these two characters, viewers experience the force of friendship as Laura and Dorcas see each other through the best and worst of times.


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: Interior scenes were shot in a warehouse on Beeches Industrial Estate, in Yate, South Gloucestershire. The villages of Lark Rise and Candleford were both created from scratch on farms in Box and Neston Park, near Corsham in Wiltshire. According to the BBC planning application, Hatt Farm in Box was used because of its proximity to existing cornfields and farm buildings, and Park Farm in Neston Park was chosen for its unspoilt character and attractive traditional buildings.


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: The outdoor filming at these locations for the first series took 25 days, spread over a 5-month period. The country scenes, including all the comings and goings of the lord of the manor, were shot at Chavenage House north of Tetbury, Gloucestershire.


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: It was announced on 22 January 2011 that the show would not be returning for a fifth series. The decision caused viewer complaints, prompting BBC One controller Danny Cohen to say, ""Lark Rise to Candleford" has been a truly wonderful part of the BBC One schedule and we are incredibly grateful to writer Bill Gallagher and the team. But we feel the time is right to make room for new dramas which we hope will be taken to the nation's hearts in the same way."


title: Lark Rise to Candleford (TV series)

text: Following that announcement, many viewers took to setting up and signing online campaigns to see the show recommissioned. In response, Ben Stephenson of the BBC finally announced the decision was based on the departure of writer and executive producer Bill Gallagher, whose "creative energy" was considered essential to the series.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: The McLaren Speedtail is a limited-production hybrid sports car manufactured by McLaren Automotive, revealed on October 26, 2018. This car is the fourth edition in the "McLaren Ultimate Series", after the Senna, the P1, and the F1. The car is also part of the 18 new cars or derivatives that McLaren will launch as part of its "Track22" business plan.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: The Speedtail is powered by a modified M840T from the 720S and a hybrid powertrain to generate . The Speedtail uses a carbon fibre monocoque, with the passenger seats integrated into the chassis, as well as dihedral doors like other McLaren models.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: McLaren claims that the Speedtail has a top speed of and can accelerate from in 12.8 seconds. The maximum torque is .


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: The car recharges its hybrid battery while driving, though a wireless charging pad is included with the car, trickle-charging it when not in use.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: The Speedtail is fitted with electrochromic glass, which darkens at the push of a button, eliminating the need for sun visors and also incorporates LED lights in the interior. Similarly, the Speedtail does not feature door mirrors, instead using HD cameras mounted on the front guards that pop out when the ignition is turned on, and retract inside when the "Velocity mode" is activated, which reduces overall drag and optimizes overall performance. The front wheels feature carbon fibre static covers to further reduce drag. On the exterior, it features hydraulically actuated active rear aerodynamic control surfaces, which are formed in flexible carbon fibre and are an integral part of the rear clamshell.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: The Speedtail has a 3-seat layout, similar to the preceding F1, which has the driver sitting at the centre of the car, and slightly forward of the two passenger seats. On the original F1, this layout was used to provide better visibility than a conventional seating layout. The interior of the Speedtail features "directional leather finish" which McLaren says “makes it easy to slide into the seat but then subtly holds the occupant in place while they drive.” and is strong enough that it can be used in place of carpet on the floor of the Speedtail. It also features "Titanium Deposition Carbon Fibre", which is when "a micron-thin layer of titanium is fused directly onto the weave and becomes an integral part of the carbon fibre’s construction.", as well as Thin-Ply Technology Carbon Fibre (TPT), consisting of countless 30 micron thick layers of carbon fibre. The company also offers bespoke luggage for Speedtail owners, a practice implemented when the F1 went on sale.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: Testing was done in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds. The shuttle landing runway was used for the tests. It was also tested on tracks in Germany, Spain and Italy.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: In November 2018, McLaren planned to build 106 examples of the Speedtail, all of which have already been sold, at an MSRP of around £2.1 million. Due in part to its use of cameras in place of side mirrors and no side-mounted airbags, the Speedtail does not meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) in the United States, even though around 35% of the total cars were bought by American buyers. A spokeswoman for the company stated that the car may be legal, pending approval by the NHTSA, to be imported into the U.S. under the “Show or Display” law, which exempts cars that are “historically or technologically significant" from FMVSS, but imposes a mileage limit of 2,500 miles in a 12-month period and registration of the vehicle with the DOT. McLaren has made it clear that they will not offer assistance with importing or registering the Speedtail in the U.S.


title: McLaren Speedtail

text: Production of the McLaren Speedtail commenced in the United Kingdom after high-speed testing was completed by December 2019. The prototype XP2 version had "reached its terminal velocity more than 30 times," topping out at , and able to go from a standstill to in less than 13 seconds. The first deliveries, 106 cars, were slated for February 2020 to Woking, England.


title: Emma McKeon

text: Emma Jennifer McKeon, (born 24 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a four-time world record holder, one current and three former, in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. Her total career haul of 11 Olympic medals following the 2020 Olympic Games made her Australia's most decorated Olympian and included one gold medal from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and four gold medals from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. With four gold and three bronze medals she was the most decorated athlete across all sports at the 2020 Summer Olympics, and tied for the most medals won by a woman in a single Olympic Games. She has also won 17 medals, including four gold medals, at the World Aquatics Championships; and a record 20 medals, including 14 gold, at the Commonwealth Games.


title: Emma McKeon

text: In 2021, McKeon tied Ian Thorpe for the most number of Olympic gold medals won over the course of an Australian athlete's career with five total gold medals earned at her first two Olympic Games. She was also the highest scoring competitor, male or female, for the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup where she earned a total of fourteen medals, including ten gold medals.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon was born on 24 May 1994 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. She is the sister of Kaitlin (National age swimmer and Paramedicine student), Olympian David McKeon, and the daughter of four-time Commonwealth gold medalist and two-time Olympian Ron McKeon, both of whom are also swimmers. Her mother, Susie, was also a swimmer who competed in the Commonwealth Games and her uncle, Rob Woodhouse, was a two-time Olympian. She completed her secondary education in 2012 from The Illawarra Grammar School and following graduation, at the age of 18, relocated to Brisbane to train under Vince Raleigh at the Chandler Aquatic Centre in 2014. In 2015, McKeon switched coaches again and began training under Michael Bohl, initially at Brisbane's St Peters Western Swimming Club before the pair relocated to Griffith University on the Gold Coast in 2017 where McKeon studied a bachelor's degree in public health and health promotion with a major in nutrition.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics held in Singapore. She won a gold medal in the girls' 4 × 100 metre medley relay; silver medals in the 100 metre freestyle and the mixed 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay; and bronze medals in the 50 metre freestyle, 200 metre freestyle, and mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon missed out on selection for the London 2012 Summer Olympics by placing 7th in the 100 metre freestyle, 9th in the 100 metre butterfly, 10th in the 200 metre freestyle, and 13th in the 50 metre freestyle. Following her performance at the 2012 Olympic Trials and not making the 2012 Australia Olympic Team, McKeon took a break from swimming competition that helped her rejuvenate her drive and love of the sport.


title: Emma McKeon

text: In April 2016 McKeon was selected as part of the Australian team for the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her brother David was also selected meaning the pair were the first brother and sister to swim at an Olympic Games for Australia since John and Ilsa Konrads in 1960. At the 2016 Summer Olympics she led off the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay that won a gold medal in a world record time of 3:30.65. McKeon also went on to win a pair of silvers as a part of the 4 × 200 metre freestyle and 4 × 100 metre medley relays. She was one of five Australian individual medallists in swimming in Rio, having won a bronze medal in the 200 metre freestyle with a time of 1:54.92. In the 100 metre butterfly, she finished 6th. In total, McKeon went three-for-three in her relay events, medaling in every event as well as competing in the final of each event, and one-for-two in her individual events for the 2016 Summer Olympics, which were her first Olympic Games.


title: Emma McKeon

text: At the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, McKeon won four gold medals. She swam the third leg of the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay for the Australian team in the final, which won the gold medal in a world record time of 3:29.69. On the second to last day of swimming, she also won the gold medal in the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 51.96 seconds (an Olympic record and the second fastest time in history). On the last day, she won the 50 metre freestyle gold medal with another Olympic record time, of 23.81 seconds, and swam the butterfly leg of the gold medal-winning and Olympic record-setting finals Australian relay team for the 4 × 100 metre medley relay.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon also won three bronze medals: in the 100 metre butterfly (with a new Oceanian record and Australian record of 55.72), and as part of the finals relay in both the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay and the mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay events. In total, McKeon made the podium in every event she raced, going seven-for-seven and winning an Olympic medal in each event as well as setting one world record and seven Olympics records in the process. Combined across her first Olympic Games (2016) and her second Olympic Games (2020), this brought her total number of world records set at the Olympic Games to two, she set her first world record at an Olympic Games at her first Olympic Games in 2016, and her total number of Olympic records to eight.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon won seven medals in Tokyo, the most by any female swimmer at a single Olympic Games, and equalled the most medals won by a female athlete in any sport at a single Olympic Games, tying Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya. She was the first female competitor at an Olympic Games since 1964 to lead the medal count across all sports, with the next highest ranking competitor in swimming, in terms of total medal count at the end of the 2020 Summer Olympics, being Caeleb Dressel of the United States who won a total of five medals at the year's Olympic Games. Her total of five Olympic gold medals across the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games tied the Australian record held by Ian Thorpe, while her 11 total medals across her first two, and consecutive, Olympic Games broke the record of nine total Olympic medals of fellow Australians Ian Thorpe and Leisel Jones over the course of their careers. McKeon became the fourth swimmer in history to win seven or more Olympic medals at a single Olympic Games only after Mark Spitz, Matt Biondi, and Michael Phelps all of the United States, which made her the first swimmer in history, male or female, not from the United States to achieve the feat.


title: Emma McKeon

text: In 2013, she won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the 15th FINA World Championships held in Barcelona, Spain. She also swam in the heats of the 4 × 100 metre medley relay and the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay on the way to Australia winning silver medals in those events.


title: Emma McKeon

text: In 2015, she competed at the 16th FINA World Championships held in Kazan, Russia. She won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metre medley relay, finished fourth in the 100 metre butterfly and placed seventh in the 200 metre freestyle.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon won four silver and two bronze medals at the 2017 World Swimming Championships. She competed in 100 m butterfly. In the heats she was third, with a time of 56.81. After that in the second semifinal, she finished second tying the Oceania record of 56.23. In the final she improved this time and finished second behind Sarah Sjöström with a record of Oceania time of 56.18. In 200 m freestyle she continued from the heats to the semifinals with the fourth fastest time at 1:56.61. Then in the semifinals she was second in her heat and second overall. In the final she proved her good form and she shared the silver medal with Katie Ledecky with a time of 1:55.15, remaining behind the one-time Olympic and dual World medalist in that discipline, Federica Pellegrini. Her third silver medal came from the 4×100 metre freestyle relay with Bronte Campbell, Brittany Elmslie and Shayna Jack, her team coming 0.29 seconds behind the USA. Her fourth silver medal resulted from the 4×100 m mixed medley with team mates Mitch Larkin, Daniel Cave and Bronte Campbell where they set a new Oceanian record with their time of 3:41.21.


title: Emma McKeon

text: At the 2019 World Aquatics Championships at Gwangju in South Korea Emma McKeon won six medals. She won three gold medals for the 4×100 metre freestyle relay, 4×200 metre freestyle relay and 4×100 m mixed medley relay. In the 4x200 metre relay the Australians broke the world record setting a time of 7:41.50 with McKeon swimming the anchor leg.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon also collected two silver medals for the 4×100 metre medley relay and the 4×100 m mixed freestyle relay. In the mixed 4×100 metre freestyle relay, she set a new Oceanian and Australian record of 3:19.97 in the final along with her relay teammates Kyle Chalmers, Clyde Lewis, and Bronte Campbell. In individual events she received a bronze medal for the 100 metre butterfly with a time of 56.61 and finished fourth in the 100 metre freestyle 0.29 seconds behind bronze medallist Sarah Sjöström of Sweden.


title: Emma McKeon

text: She was selected as part of the Australian squad for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, held in Glasgow, Scotland, where she won six medals, four golds and two bronze medals. On the first day of competition she won a gold medal in the 200 metre freestyle and then competed in the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay with Bronte Campbell, Melanie Schlanger and Cate Campbell, who gold medalled and set a new world record time of 3:30.98. She won individual bronze medals in the 100 metre butterfly and then in the 100 metre freestyle, behind the Campbell sisters as Australia took all podium positions. McKeon won further gold medals in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, where she set a Games record as part of team that also included Alicia Coutts, Brittany Elmslie and Bronte Barratt, and the 4 × 100 metre medley relay with Emily Seebohm, Lorna Tonks and Cate Campbell. Her six medals equalled a Commonwealth Games record for swimmers previously set by Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon won the most number of medals in swimming at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Queensland, with four gold and two bronze medals; equalling her previous record, set at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and shared with Ian Thorpe and Susie O'Neill. As part of the 4x100 metre freestyle relay, McKeon split a 52.99 and helped set a new world record in the event in the final and won a gold medal for her efforts. In the final of the 4x100 metre medley relay, she helped win the gold medal and set a new Australian All Comers record at 3:54.36, splitting a 56.42 for the butterfly leg of the relay.


title: Emma McKeon

text: As a result of her successful 2021 Olympics campaign, and under a new rule from Swimming Australia, McKeon was pre-selected for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England without having to take part in the Australian Swimming Championships. Having also chosen to sit out of the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, the Commonwealth Games was the first time McKeon raced competitively in 2022. McKeon broke the record for the most Commonwealth Games medals ever received after winning six gold, one silver and one bronze medals, and bringing her total medal count to 20. She also equalled the most gold medals won at a single Games previously set by Susie O'Neill and Ian Thorpe; and her eight medals equals the most medals won at a single Games, a record previously held by Susie O'Neill. As part of the mixed 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay, a new event for the Games, McKeon split a 52.21 in the final leg, securing a gold medal and helping to set a Commonwealth Games record with an overall time of 3:21.18. McKeon anchored the women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay final and with a 52.04 split help to win a gold medal with an overall time of 3:30.64. In the 50 metre freestyle, McKeon advanced through to the semifinals after qualifying second in the preliminary heats with a time of 24.52. In the semifinal, she swam a time of 24.51, placing third and making it through to the final, where she won the gold medal in a time of 23.99. McKeon swam a 26.65 in the 50 metre butterfly preliminary heats to qualify fourth for the semifinal where she advanced through in a time of 26.02. In the final, McKeon earned herself a gold medal after finishing first in a time of 25.90. In another new event for the Games, McKeon anchored the mixed 4 × 100 metre medley relay, helping to win a gold medal and setting a Games record with a 51.88 split for her freestyle leg, and an overall time of 3:41.30. In the women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, McKeon swam a 56.59 split for the butterfly leg and with an overall time of 3:54.44, earned the gold medal. In the 100 metre butterfly, McKeon swam a 57.34 in the preliminary heats to qualify first for the semifinal where she swam a 57.49 and again qualified first for the final. In the final, she finished in second place with a time of 56.38 securing a silver medal. In her final event of the program, McKeon swam a 55.36 in the 100 metre freestyle preliminary heats to advance through to the semifinals after qualifying in sixth position. In the semifinal, she swam a time of 53.1, qualifying first for the final, where she swam a 52.94 to finish in third place, earning a bronze medal.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon is a member of the London Roar team and she competed in the 2019 inaugural season of the International Swimming League (ISL). The ISL is an annual professional swimming league featuring a team-based competition format with fast paced race sessions. 10 teams featuring the world’s best swimmers compete.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon was the overall highest scoring female competitor at the short course 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in Budapest, Hungary. Among the events she won in Budapest was the 50 metre butterfly in which she finished first with a time of 24.97 seconds. In the 100 metre freestyle, McKeon dropped almost half a second from her time at the first World Cup stop to win the gold medal in a time of 50.58 seconds which tied the World Cup record set by Sarah Sjöström of Sweden in 2017. Prior to stop two in Budapest, at the first stop in Berlin, she swam a personal best time in the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 50.96 seconds and won the gold medal. For the first two World Cup stops, Berlin and Budapest, McKeon was the highest scoring female competitor both at each individual stop and combined across both stops. McKeon's total score for the Budapest stop, 58.3 points, was the highest individual score by any competitor, male or female, for the first two stops of the World Cup circuit, with the only other competitors scoring in the 58 point range being Matthew Sates of South Africa who scored 58.2 points in Berlin, Tom Shields of the United States who scored 58.1 points in Budapest, and Kira Toussaint of the Netherlands who scored 58.1 points in Budapest. McKeon's moment where she tied the World Cup record set by Sarah Sjöström was ranked by FINA as the number five moment from the entire 2021 Swimming World Cup.


title: Emma McKeon

text: Star status landed McKeon at the top of the list of athletes to watch at the third World Cup stop, held in Doha, Qatar, as named by "Swimming World" and FINA in advance of the start of competition. Going for building consistency in her four individual events, McKeon entered to compete in the 50 metre freestyle, 100 metre freestyle, 50 metre butterfly, and 100 metre butterfly in Doha. On day one of competition, McKeon swam a 24.09 in the prelims heats of the 50 metre freestyle in the morning, ranking second by a twenty-three hundredths of a seconds after Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands and advancing to the final in the evening. Finishing in a time of 23.54 in the final, McKeon won her first medal of the Doha stop, a silver medal. Having won the gold medal in the 50 metre freestyle in Berlin and Budapest, the silver medal was her first non-gold medal finish in the event for the year's World Cup circuit. The next day, October 22, McKeon raced in the timed final of the 50 metre butterfly, finishing in a time of 25.07 seconds and making the podium by winning the bronze medal. The third and final day of competition in Doha, she started off with 51.82 in the prelims of the 100 metre freestyle, ranking first overall and advancing to the final. In the evening finals session, McKeon swam a 55.83 and won the gold medal in her first race of the evening, the 100 metre butterfly. She finished off her events in Doha in the final of the 100 metre freestyle, swimming a 51.15 and finishing first to win the gold medal. When scores were tallied across the first three stops of the World Cup, McKeon retained her overall lead amongst female competitors with her total score of 170.0 points, though Kira Toussaint was not far behind in second-place with a score of 169.2 points.


title: Emma McKeon

text: Her entries in sprint events for both freestyle and butterfly at the fourth and final stop of the World Cup circuit, located at the Palace of Water Sports in Kazan, Russia for the year, were noted by FINA as races to watch during competition. McKeon spoke of competition for the last stop, providing context in terms of her history competing in Kazan and performance with a lack of spectators, at a FINA-hosted press conference preceding competition:


title: Emma McKeon

text: In the prelims heats of the 50 metre freestyle on day one of competition, McKeon was the only swimmer under 24 seconds and advanced to the final ranked first with her time of 23.98 seconds. She followed up her strong morning performance with a gold-medal-winning time of 23.53 seconds in the final in the evening, just three hundredths of a second off her personal best time in the event. The morning of day two, McKeon tied for first in the prelims heats of the 50 metre butterfly with a time of 25.50 seconds and advanced to the final. Later in the day, she won the silver medal with a personal best time of 24.94 seconds in the final of the 50 metre butterfly. For the last day of competition of the World Cup circuit, McKeon had a busy morning, she started off by ranking first in the 100 metre butterfly prelims heats with a time of 57.35 seconds, which was about four tenths of a second ahead of second-ranked Maria Ugolkova of Switzerland. In the 100 metre freestyle prelims heats, her second race of the morning, McKeon ranked first again, this time by over a second ahead of second-ranked competitor Madison Wilson of Australia with her time of 51.94 seconds. McKeon won the gold medal in the final of the 100 metre butterfly later in the day, swimming a time of 55.63 seconds. She won her second gold medal of the day in the final of the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 50.67 seconds. Her time of 50.67 seconds registered as the fourth fastest swim in history and made two of the four fastest times in the event hers, she also had the second fastest swim of 50.58 seconds. Speaking of her wins, McKeon told FINA, "I am in pretty in good shape now. The preparations, which I took for the Olympics, still pay off." McKeon's performances across all four stops of the World Cup made her the highest overall scoring competitor of any gender, coming in at 228.3 total points and $144,000 of prize money. The only competitor to score higher than her at a single World Cup stop was male swimmer Daiya Seto of Japan who scored 58.9 points at the Kazan stop. In terms of total medals won by a female competitor, McKeon ranked third with her total of fourteen medals, which included ten gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze medal, and in terms of similarity of medal count and breakdown with another competitor, male or female, she and Tom Shields of the United States had the exact same medal count and breakdown.


title: Emma McKeon

text: At the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships held in Sydney, New South Wales in August 2022, McKeon swam a light schedule, competing in just two events. In the 100 metre freestyle, she swam 51.61 in the preliminary heats to qualify first for the final, where she won gold in a time of 51.03. McKeon again qualified first in the 50 metre freestyle preliminary heats with a time of 23.79. In the final, McKeon swam a 23.61 to finish first, earning herself a gold medal.


title: Emma McKeon

text: McKeon was selected as part of a 36-person team for the FINA World Swimming Championships to be held in Melbourne, Victoria in December 2022. McKeon started her campaign swimming a 51.76 split in the women's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay in the preliminary heats to advance first through to the final. In the final, McKeon anchored the relay splitting a 49.96 and becoming the first woman to swim a sub-50 freestyle short course split. Her efforts earned Australia a gold medal and a new World Short Course record with an overall time of 3:25.43. In the 100 metre freestyle, McKeon advanced through to the semifinals after qualifying third in the preliminary heats with a time of 52.23. In the semifinal, she swam a 51.28 to make it through in first to the final, where she won the gold medal and set a new World Championships record with a time of 50.77. McKeon split a 22.73 in the last leg of the women's 4 × 50 metre freestyle relay final and with an overall time of 1:34.23, earned a silver medal. As part of the mixed 4 × 50 metre freestyle relay, McKeon swam the final leg of the preliminary heats in a time of 22.98 to see Australia qualify second for the final. In the final, McKeon anchored the relay and with a 22.62 split, she not only helped Australia win the silver medal, but she also become the fastest women in history to split a 50-free leg. In the 50 metre freestyle, McKeon swam a 23.93 in the preliminary heats to advance sixth into the semifinals, where she qualified second for the final in a time of 23.51. In the final, McKeon won gold and set a new World Championships record after swimming a time of 23.04. McKeon swam the butterfly leg of the women's 4 × 50 metre medley relay preliminary heat in a split of 23.23, and with an overall time of 1:44.78 qualified first for the final, where she again swam the butterfly leg in a time of 24.43. Her efforts helped Australia win a gold medal and with an overall time of 1:42.35 established a new World Short Course record. As part of the women's 4 × 100 metre medley relay, McKeon split a 53.93 for the butterfly leg and with an overall time of 3:44.92, collected a silver medal.


title: Emma McKeon

text: split 52.91 (3rd leg); with Bronte Campbell (1st leg), Melanie Schlanger (2nd leg), Cate Campbell (4th leg)


title: Emma McKeon

text: split 49.96 (4th leg); with Mollie O'Callaghan (1st leg), Madison Wilson (2nd leg), Meg Harris (3rd leg)


title: Emma McKeon

text: split 53.41 (1st leg); with Brittany Elmslie (2nd leg), Bronte Campbell (3rd leg), Cate Campbell (4th leg)


title: Emma McKeon

text: In 2022, at the 'Better future for all' forum held at Griffith University, McKeon suggested that it was "just not fair" to expect cisgender women to compete against transgender women.


title: B1 Centauro

text: The Centauro is a family of Italian military vehicles originating from a wheeled tank destroyer for light to medium territorial defense and tactical reconnaissance. It was developed by a consortium of manufacturers, the Società Consortile Iveco Fiat - OTO Melara (CIO). Iveco Fiat was tasked with developing the hull and propulsion systems while Oto Melara was responsible for developing the turrets and weapon systems.


title: B1 Centauro

text: Over the years, the Centauro platform has been developed into multiple variants to fulfill other combat roles, such as infantry fighting vehicle or self-propelled howitzer.


title: B1 Centauro

text: The vehicle was developed in response to an Italian Army requirement for a tank destroyer with the firepower of the old Leopard 1 main battle tank then in service with the Italian Army, but with greater strategic mobility. The main mission of the Centauro is to protect other, lighter, elements of the cavalry, using its good power-to-weight ratio, excellent range and cross country ability (despite the wheeled design) and computerized fire control system to accomplish this mission. Centauro entered production in 1991 and deliveries were complete by 2006.


title: B1 Centauro

text: The main armament consists of the Oto Melara 105 mm/52 caliber gyro-stabilized high-pressure, low-recoil gun equipped with a thermal sleeve and an integrated fume extractor, with 40 rounds: 14 ready rounds in the turret and another 26 rounds in the hull. The gun can fire standard NATO ammunition, including APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) rounds.


title: B1 Centauro

text: Secondary weapons are a 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and another 7.62 mm anti-aircraft machine gun with 4,000 rounds of ammunition.


title: B1 Centauro

text: Aiming is provided by a Galileo Avionica TURMS fire control system (the same as fitted to the Italian Ariete tank) and is equipped with a muzzle referencing system and a fully digital ballistic computer. The gunner's sight is fully stabilized and comes equipped with a thermal imager and laser rangefinder. The commander's station is equipped with a panoramic stabilized sight, an image intensifying night sight and a monitor displaying the image from the gunner's thermal sight. This allows Centauro to engage stationary or moving targets while stationary or on the move, in day or night.


title: B1 Centauro

text: The Centauro hull is an all-welded steel armoured hull, which in the baseline configuration is designed to withstand 14.5 mm bullets and shell fragments with protection against 25 mm munition on the frontal section. The addition of bolt-on appliqué armour increases protection against 30 mm rounds.


title: B1 Centauro

text: The Centauro is also equipped with an CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) warfare protection system, which is integrated with the vehicle's air conditioning system. The vehicle is also equipped with a four-barreled smoke grenade launcher mounted on each side of the turret and a laser warning receiver.


title: B1 Centauro

text: Centauro is powered by an Iveco V6 turbo-charged after-cooled diesel engine delivering 520 hp (382.4 kW). This drives a ZF-designed automatic transmission, which is manufactured under license by Iveco Fiat. The transmission system has five forward and two reverse gears. This drives eight wheels, which are each equipped with an independent suspension system, and, furthermore, equipped with run-flat inserts and a Central Tyre Inflation System (CTIS). Braking is provided by eight disc brakes. Steering is provided on the first and second axles and at slow speed also with the fourth axle. Together, this allows Centauro to achieve road speeds in excess of 100 km/h, negotiate gradients up to 60%, ford water up to a depth of 1.5m without preparation, and have a turning radius of 9m.


title: B1 Centauro

text: Centauro was deployed in the former Yugoslavia and Somalia, where the design proved successful. Centauro was usually employed to escort motor convoys, for wide area control and for road patrols.


title: B1 Centauro

text: Centauros were also deployed during operation "Antica Babilonia", the Italian involvement in the Iraq War. During this operation, a Centauro troop took part in the battle for the bridges of Nassiriya, destroying a building where snipers were hiding.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Matilda of Flanders (; ) ( 1031 – 2 November 1083) was Queen of England and Duchess of Normandy by marriage to William the Conqueror, and regent of Normandy during his absences from the duchy. She was the mother of ten children who survived to adulthood, including two kings, William II and Henry I.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: In 1031, Matilda was born into the House of Flanders, the second daughter of Count Baldwin V of Flanders and Adela of France. Flanders was of strategic importance to England and most of Europe as a "stepping stone between England and the Continent" necessary for strategic trade and for keeping the Scandinavian Intruders from England. In addition, her mother was the daughter of Robert II of France. For these reasons Matilda was of grander birth than William, who was illegitimate, and, according to some more romantic tellings of the story, she initially refused his proposal on this account. Her descent from the Anglo-Saxon royal House of Wessex was also to become a useful card. Like many royal marriages of the period, it breached the rules of consanguinity, then at their most restrictive (to seven generations or degrees of relatedness); Matilda and William were third-cousins once removed. She was about 20 when they married in 1051/2; William was some four years older, and had been Duke of Normandy since he was about eight (in 1035).


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: The marriage appears to have been successful, and William is not recorded to have had any bastards. Matilda was about 35, and had already borne most of her children, when William embarked on the Norman conquest of England, sailing in his flagship "Mora", which Matilda had given him. She governed the Duchy of Normandy in his absence, joining him in England only after more than a year, and subsequently returning to Normandy, where she spent most of the remainder of her life, while William was mostly in his new kingdom. Matilda served as regent in Normandy during the absence of William six times: in 1066–1067, in 1067–1068, in 1069, in 1069–1072, in 1074 and, finally, in 1075–1076. She was about 52 when she died in Normandy in 1083.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Apart from governing Normandy and supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, Matilda took a close interest in the education of her children, who were unusually well educated for contemporary royalty. The boys were tutored by the Italian Lanfranc, who was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, while the girls learned Latin in Sainte-Trinité Abbey in Caen, founded by William and Matilda as part of the papal dispensation allowing their marriage.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: There were rumours that Matilda had been in love with the English ambassador to Flanders and with the great Anglo-Saxon thegn Brictric, son of Algar, who (according to the account by the "Continuator of Wace" and others) in his youth declined her advances. Whatever the truth of the matter, years later she is said to have used her authority to confiscate Brictric's lands and throw him into prison, where he died.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Matilda, or Maud, was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and Adela, herself daughter of King Robert II of France.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: According to legend, when the Norman duke William the Bastard (later called "the Conqueror") sent his representative to ask for Matilda's hand in marriage, she told the representative that she was far too high-born to consider marrying a bastard. After hearing this response, William rode from Normandy to Bruges, found Matilda on her way to church, dragged her off her horse by her long braids, threw her down in the street in front of her flabbergasted attendants and rode off. Some narrations of this event also state that William rolled Matilda in the mud and badly beat her before galloping away.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Another version of the story states that William rode to Matilda's father's house in Lille, threw her to the ground in her room (again, by her braids) and hit her (or violently battered her) before leaving. Naturally, Baldwin took offence at this; but, before they could draw swords, Matilda settled the matter by refusing to marry anyone but William; even a papal ban by Pope Leo IX at the Council of Reims on the grounds of consanguinity did not dissuade her. William and Matilda were married after a delay in . A papal dispensation was finally awarded in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II. Lanfranc, at the time prior of Bec Abbey, negotiated the arrangement in Rome and it came only after William and Matilda agreed to found two churches as penance.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: When William was preparing to invade England, Matilda outfitted a ship, the "Mora", out of her own funds and gave it to him. Additionally, William gave Normandy to his wife during his absence. Matilda successfully guided the duchy through this period in the name of her fourteen-year-old son; no major uprisings or unrest occurred.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Even after William conquered England and became its king, it took her more than a year to visit the kingdom. Despite William's conquest, she spent most of her time in Normandy, governing the duchy, supporting her brother's interests in Flanders, and sponsoring ecclesiastic houses there. Only one of her children was born in England; Henry was born in Yorkshire when Matilda accompanied her husband in the Harrying of the North. She arrived in England in April 1068 and was crowned alongside William, who was re-crowned at the same time in order to demand the court's respect.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Matilda was crowned queen on 11 May 1068 in Westminster during the feast of Pentecost, in a ceremony presided over by the archbishop of York. Three new phrases were incorporated to cement the importance of a queen, stating that she was divinely placed by God, shared in royal power, and blessed her people by her power and virtue.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: For many years it was thought that Matilda had some involvement in the creation of the Bayeux Tapestry (commonly called "La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde" in French), but historians no longer believe that; it seems to have been commissioned by William's half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and made by English artists in Kent.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Matilda and William had nine or ten children together. He is believed to have been faithful to her and never produced a child outside their marriage; there is no evidence of any illegitimate children born to William. Despite her royal duties, Matilda was deeply invested in her children's well-being. All were known for being remarkably educated. Her daughters were educated and taught to read Latin at Sainte-Trinité in Caen, founded by Matilda and William in response to the recognition of their marriage. For her sons, she secured Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury of whom she was an ardent supporter. Both she and William approved of the Archbishop's desire to revitalise the Church.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: William was furious when he discovered she sent large sums of money to their exiled son Robert. She effected a truce between them at Easter 1080.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: She stood as godmother for Matilda of Scotland, who would become Queen of England after marrying Matilda's son Henry I. During the christening, the baby pulled Queen Matilda's headdress down on top of herself, which was seen as an omen that the younger Matilda would be queen some day as well.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Matilda fell ill during the summer of 1083 and died on 2 November 1083. Her husband was present for her final confession. William swore to give up hunting, his favorite sport, to express his grief after the death of his wife. He himself died four years later in 1087.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Contrary to the common belief that she was buried at St. Stephen's, also called l'Abbaye-aux-Hommes in Caen, Normandy, where William was eventually buried, she is entombed in Caen at l'Abbaye aux Dames, which is the community of Sainte-Trinité. Of particular interest is the 11th-century slab, a sleek black ledger stone decorated with her epitaph, marking her grave at the rear of the church. In contrast, the grave marker for William's tomb was replaced as recently as the beginning of the 19th century.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Over time Matilda's tomb was desecrated and her original coffin destroyed. Her remains were placed in a sealed box and reburied under the original black slab. In 1959 Matilda's incomplete skeleton was examined and her femur and tibia were measured to determine her height. Her height was , a normal female height for the time. However, as a result of this examination she was misreported as being leading to the myth that she was extremely small.


title: Matilda of Flanders

text: Matilda and William had four sons and at least five daughters. The birth order of the boys is clear, but no source gives the relative order of birth of the daughters.


title: The Money Pit

text: The Money Pit is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Richard Benjamin and starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as a couple who attempt to renovate a recently purchased house. The film is a remake of the 1948 Cary Grant comedy film "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House", and was filmed in New York City and Lattingtown, New York, and was co-executive produced by Steven Spielberg. A remake, "Drömkåken", directed by Peter Dalle, was released to cinemas in Sweden on 28 October 1993.


title: The Money Pit

text: Attorney Walter Fielding and his classical musician girlfriend, Anna Crowley, learn of Walter Sr.'s wedding to a woman named Florinda shortly after fleeing the country for embezzling millions of dollars from their musician clients. The next morning, they are told they need to vacate the apartment they are subletting from Anna's ex-husband, Max Beissart, a self-absorbed conductor who has returned early from Europe.


title: The Money Pit

text: Through an unscrupulous realtor friend, Walter learns about a million-dollar distress sale mansion on the market for a mere $200,000. He and Anna meet the owner, Estelle, who claims she must sell it quickly because her husband, Carlos, has been arrested. Her sob story and insistence at keeping the place in candlelight in order to save money "for the bloodsucking lawyers", distracts Walter and enchants Anna, who finds it romantic. They decide to buy it.


title: The Money Pit

text: From the moment Walter and Anna take possession of the house, it quickly begins to fall apart. Among other problems, the entire front door frame rips out of the wall, the main staircase collapses, the plumbing is full of gunk, the electrical system catches fire, the bathtub crashes through the floor, the chimney collapses, and a raccoon is living in the dumbwaiter.