title: Seventh Crusade

text: Louis had taken the cross from William of Auvergne, bishop of Paris, without prior papal authorization. Beside his ecclesiastical role, William was an expert on Arabic affairs and may have doubted the wisdom of the king's decision. Regardless of the maternal, episcopal and political opposition, Louis pressed ahead with the idea that his Crusade was a personal and spiritual rite of passage.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Within two months, the papal bull was issued, with preaching of the Crusade authorized. Odo of Châteauroux, cardinal-bishop of Frascati, began preaching in France, legitimizing regional preachers and collecting funds. Odo had been deeply involved in the crusading movement for decades, having personally preached the cross against the Albigensian heretics in 1226, against the Mongols around 1240, and, later, against the Muslims in the Holy Land through Louis' second Crusade. As cardinal he masterminded the propaganda campaign for Louis’ first Crusade and accompanied the king to the East as papal legate. While the plight of the Holy Land and French national pride was stressed in their pleas, preachers had also to spell out how the faithful could contribute, in person, with money or through prayer.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The preaching campaign of 1245–1248 did not go smoothly. Odo had to balance the call to the Holy Land with the war against Frederick II. The French government deliberately associated Louis' Crusade with the suppression of the rebellion at the Siege of Montségur in 1244, the final carryover from the Albigensian Crusade. The rebels were induced to take the cross as a symbol of loyalty to the Capetians. Other competing crusades included the Prussian Crusade, a Livonian Crusade against the Curonians, and a proposed crusade to protect Constantinople from Nicaea.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Recruitment in the French court was slow to develop. Louis’ youngest brother Alphonse of Poitiers, taking the cross in 1245, had his army ready only in the spring of 1249. In northern France, men were still joining up into 1250, and the other brothers, Charles I of Anjou and Robert I of Artois, also joined. Recruitment was concentrated in the kingdom of France, Burgundy, Lorraine and the Low Countries between the Meuse and the Rhine. In 1248, Louis was unsuccessful in convincing Haakon IV of Norway to join him as commander of the Crusader fleet. Apart from the king and his brothers, there were loyalists including crusading veterans Hugh IV of Burgundy, Peter Maulcerc, and his vassal Raoul de Soissons, with rebels including Raymond VII of Toulouse and his father-in-law Hugh X of Lusignan. Recruits came from across the kingdom, from Flanders and Brittany to Poitou, the Bourbonnais and Languedoc. From Brittany, it appears that practically all the major landowners participated. Theobald of Champagne declined to join, but the Champenois provided 1,000 men. Early in 1247, Crusaders at Châteaudun had formed a "confratria" to purchase materials and ships, providing funding for those who went to fight, and to collect donations by non-"crucesignati." Indulgences were granted and often misused. By 1246, after numerous incidents, "crucesignati" were no longer permitted to avoid lawsuits involving fiefs and pledges. Many were indulging in theft, murder and rape, causing the pope to order bishops not to protect such miscreants, crusade privileges notwithstanding.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Henry III of England, defeated by Louis IX in 1242 at Taillebourg, did not want to get involved in a French war. He denied entry to Galeran, Bishop of Beirut, had sailed from Acre on behalf of Latin patriarch Robert of Nantes. HIs mission was to tell the princes of the West that reinforcements must be sent if the whole kingdom were not to perish. Robert had been present at La Forbie, barely escaping, and later sent a Relic of the Holy Blood to Henry III in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to convince him to go on crusade. Henry did sign a truce promising not to attack French lands during the Crusade, and a small force of Englishmen, led by William Longespée, also took the cross. English chronicler Matthew Paris assisted Louis IX in his attempt to recruit Haakon IV and wrote of the Crusade in his "Chronica Majora" but did not travel to the Holy Land.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Louis’ expenses on the Crusade came to over 1.5 million "livres tournois (l.t.)," six times his annual revenues, with the bill for troops running at 1000 "l.t." a day. Louis was largely able to cover this from sources other than his ordinary revenues. From 1248, Jewish moneylenders were expelled from the kingdom, their property confiscated, representing the king’s anti-Jewish policies and prejudices. Some 80 towns from across France raised over 70,000 "l.t." in 1248, a figure matched by contributions from Normandy. Louis’ taxation of towns was not unprecedented, as royal towns had helped pay for the Second Crusade led by his great-grandfather, Louis VII of France.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The bulk of Louis’ funding was money derived primarily from vow redemptions and clerical taxation. Redemptions were systematically being offered and collected. The pope expressed concerns the conditions for redemption were too lax and the rates accepted too low, with the potential for speculation and fraud, causing him to impose an audit. As to clerical taxation, a tax of a twentieth was authorized and the French clergy offered a tenth over five years. The distraction of the anti-Hohenstaufen crusade (against Frederick II) and the view of the Holy Land venture as a French crusade reduced international contributions, the English and German churches remaining on the sidelines. Individual commanders, including the king’s brothers, received grants, and also raised funds from their own lands. However, the bulk of crusade funds and clerical taxes probably found their way into the royal coffers. With the increased income for the king’s own demesne, this centralized system of financing the expedition gave Louis unprecedented control over his main followers.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: In October 1245, Louis gathered his barons to receive their agreement and support for the Crusade. The next year, he held another such gathering in Paris of noblemen to swear fealty to his children in the event of his not returning from the Crusade. One of those summoned was Jean de Joinville-sur-Marne, seneschal of Champagne, whose account the most detailed personal description of any crusade. Joinville was from a crusading family. His grandfather had died on the Third Crusade, two uncles had joined the Fourth Crusade, one dying, and his father Simon of Joinville had fought in the Albigensian Crusade and in Egypt with his cousin John of Brienne during the Fifth Crusade. Refusing to swear fealty to Louis in 1248, Jean embarked from Marseilles with a company of twenty knights. Despite mortgaging his lands, his funds were gone by the time he reached Cyprus. His retinue became mutinous, forcing Jean to enter the king’s service, in return for which he received an immediate grant."" This pattern of debt rescued by Louis' aid was widespread, involving even substantial lords such as the royal brother Alphonse, Guy of Flanders and Guy V of Forez.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The core of the expedition lay in the ships that Louis had hired, sixteen from Genoa and twenty from Marseille. The contracts drawn up in 1246 specified delivery at Aigues-Mortes, a small port with a shallow harbour that had recently become part of the royal demesne, requiring significant upgrading. Guglielmo Boccanegra served as Genoese consul at the port through 1249, later serving as paymaster for the Crusade in Acre. The force of 10,000 strong that sailed with Louis in late August 1248 was of comparable size with that of Richard I of England in April 1191. Others took alternate routes. Jean de Joinville and Raymond VII of Toulouse (who died before he could depart) contracted with shippers at Marseilles. Hugh I of Blois, who also died before setting out from Inverness, while one of the transports for Raymond’s force had to come to Marseilles from the Atlantic coast via the Straits of Gibraltar, a delay that kept the count in port for the winter 1248–1249. Alphonse of Poitiers, running out of money, sailed East in 1249. By the time Louis reached Cyprus, the designated muster point, his agents had spent two years stockpiling vast quantities of food. Other supplies were either purchased in Cyprus or shipped with the army from France. By hiring, paying, buying or manufacturing, Louis appeared determined to leave as little as possible to fate or chance.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Louis' preparations had taken three years. Extraordinary taxes, including on the clergy, were levied to pay for the expedition. The governing of France in his absence needed to be settled, and Louis' mother Blanche was entrusted once more with the regency. The foreign problems were many. Henry III of England had to be trusted to keep the peace. The Venetians, already annoyed at yet another Crusade that might interrupt their commercial arrangements with Egypt, were made still more hostile when Louis utilized ships from Genoa and Marseilles.The situation with emperor Frederick II was unusually thorny. Louis had earned Frederick’s gratitude by his neutrality in the quarrel between the papacy and the empire, but had threatened intervention when Frederick proposed an attack on the pope at Lyons. Frederick was the father of the king of Jerusalem, Conrad II of Jerusalem, without whose permission Louis had no right to enter the country. Complicating the situation, when French envoys informed Frederick of the progress of the Crusade, he passed the information on to the sultan as-Salih Ayyub.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Seventh Crusade formally began on 12 August 1248 when Louis IX left Paris. With him were queen Margaret of Provence and her sister Beatrice of Provence. Two of Louis' brothers, Charles I of Anjou (husband of Beatrice) and Robert I of Artois, were also present, with their youngest brother Alphonse of Poitiers, accompanied by his wife Joan of Toulouse, departing the next year. He was followed by his cousins Hugh IV of Burgundy and Peter Maulcerc, veterans of the Barons' Crusade; by Hugh XI of Lusignan; and by Jean de Joinville and his cousin John, Count of Saarbrücken; and Olivier de Termes, veteran of the Albigensian Crusade. Some of them embarked at Aigues-Mortes, others at Marseilles. An English detachment under William Longespée, grandson of Henry II of England and his mistress Ida de Tosny (not, as rumored, Fair Rosamond) followed close behind. Other English lords had planned to join the Crusade, but Henry III had no wish to lose their services and arranged for the pope to block their passage. From Scotland came Patrick II of Dunbar and Stewart of Dundonald.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: As preparations for the Crusade were finalized, Louis made his progress towards Aigues Mortes, marked as a religious as well as royal procession. The climax of the ceremonies marking his departure from his capital saw him participate at the dedication of the new Sainte Chapelle in the royal palace, built as a reliquary to house his Holy relics of the Passion. The king of France was attempting to assume the leadership of Christendom vacated by the excommunicated emperor. Before leaving Paris for the south, Louis received the insignia of a pilgrim, the "Oriflamme" from the Abbey of St. Denis. Louis was conducting his Crusade as king as well as a penitent. From St. Denis, Louis walked to Notre Dame dressed as a penitent to hear mass before continuing barefoot to the Abbey of St. Antoine. On his journey south, Louis was garbed as a pilgrim at public appearances. After meeting Innocent IV at Lyons, he travelled towards the Mediterranean, dispensing justice as he went, the first French king to visit the region since his father in 1226. On 25 August, Louis sailed to his first destination, Limassol in Cyprus.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Louis IX arrived in Cyprus on 17 September 1248 and debarked the next day accompanied by the queen, her sister, and his chamberlain Jean Pierre Sarrasin (John the Saracen). Sarrasin wrote an extensive letter, quoted in the "Rothelin," writing of their experience of being at sea for 22 days. After a discourse by "Rothelin's" anonymous author on the perils of sea travel and authentic or legendary Roman history, the work returns to Sarrasin's letter for the events occurring through 1250. After arriving in Cyprus, the royal party had a long wait for their forces to assemble. The delay was costly, as many men were lost to disease, including John of Montfort, son of a crusader, Peter of Vendôme, John I of Dreux, and Archambaud IX of Bourbon, grandson of a veteran of the Third Crusade. Robert VII of Béthune was among those who died "en route" to Cyprus. Others ran out of their own funds, requiring support from the king. As the troops for the Crusade gathered in Cyprus, they were well received by Henry I of Cyprus. The nobles from France were supplemented by those from Acre including Jean de Ronay and Guillaume de Sonnac. The two eldest sons of John of Brienne, Alsonso of Brienne and Louis of Brienne, would also join the Crusade (and both survive). John of Ibelin, nephew to the Old Lord of Beirut, joined later in 1249. When the plan of campaign was discussed, it was agreed that Egypt was the objective. It was the richest and most vulnerable province of the Ayyubids and many remembered how the sultan's father al-Kamil had been willing to exchange Jerusalem itself for Damietta in the Fifth Crusade.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Louis wanted to start operations at once but was dissuaded by the grand masters and the Syrian barons. The winter storms would soon begin and the coast of the Nile delta would be too dangerous to breach. In addition, they hoped to persuade the king to intervene in internal Ayyubid affairs. The Franks also missed an opportunity as the sultan as-Salih Ayyub had taken his army to fight an-Nasir Yusuf, emir of Aleppo, at Homs. The Templars had already entered into negotiations with the sultan suggesting that territorial concessions would be met with Frankish intervention. Louis would have nothing to do with such a scheme as he had come to fight the infidel Muslims, not to indulge in diplomacy. He ordered Guillaume de Sonnac to break off negotiations and sent a set of demands to the sultan. The sultan's response was equally diplomatic.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: While the king would not negotiate with Muslims, he would with the pagan Mongols following the precedent set by the pope. In December 1248, two Nestorians, called Mark and David, arrived at Nicosia. They were sent by the Mongol general Eljigidei Noyan, the commissioner of the Great Khan at Mosul, bringing a letter expressing the Mongols’ sympathy for Christianity. Louis responded by sending the Arabic-speaking André de Longjumeau to meet with the general. He carried with him a chapel, relics for its altar and other presents. From Eljigidei’s camp, de Longjumeau sent on to Mongolia. On his arrival at Karakorum, he found that Güyük, with whom the pope had negotiated, had died, with his widow Oghul Qaimish now as regent. She regarded the king’s gifts as the tribute due to her and declined sending a large expedition to the West. De Longjumeau returned in 1252 with a patronizing letter thanking her vassal Louis for his attentions, requesting that similar gifts each year. Apparently shocked by this response, Louis still hoped to achieve an eventual Mongol alliance.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Before coming to Cyprus, Louis had collected food and weapons for the army on the island, but his commissariat had not expected to have to feed so many. By spring, it was practical to sail against Egypt and Louis called on local Italian merchants for the necessary ships. The Venetians disapproved of the whole endeavor and would not help. There was open war between the Genoese and Pisans in Syria, with Louis allied with the Genoese. John of Ibelin, son of the Old Lord and now ruler of Arsuf, managed to secure a truce for three years, and by the end of May the ships were provided. In the meantime, Louis received many callers while at Nicosia. Hethoum of Armenia sent him gifts. Bohemond V of Antioch requested several hundred archers to protect his principality from brigands, which were provided. Maria of Brienne came to beg for help for the Latin empire being threatened by John III Ducas Vatatzes, the emperor of Nicaea. Her pleas were refused as the Crusade against the infidel took precedence. Loyalist Hugh IV of Burgundy had spent the winter in Achaea and convinced their ruler William of Villehardouin to join the Crusade. He arrived with ships and Frankish soldiers from the Morea, to remain for the duration.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The sultan as-Salih Ayyub had spent the winter at Damascus, trying finish the conquest of Homs before the Franks invaded. He had expected them to land in Syria, and realizing that the objective was instead Egypt, the siege was lifted and he ordered his armies to follow him to Cairo. He was stricken with tuberculosis and could no longer lead his men in person and turned to his aged vizier Fakhr ad-Din ibn as-Shaikh, who had negotiated with Frederick II during the Sixth Crusade, to command the army. He sent stores of munitions to Damietta and garrisoned it with the Bedouin tribesmen of the Banū Kinana, known for their courage. He monitored the coming conflict from his camp at the village of Ashmun al-Rumman, to the east of the main branch of the Nile. Fakhr ad-Din was supported by Qutuz, later sultan himself. (See a map of the area here.)


title: Seventh Crusade

text: On 13 May 1249, a fleet of one hundred and twenty large transports were assembled and the army began to embark. A storm scattered the ships a few days later and the king finally set sail on 30 May, arriving off Damietta on 4 June 1249. Only a quarter of his army sailed with him, the rest making their way independently to the Egyptian coast. Aboard his flagship the "Montjoie," Louis' advisers urged a delay until the rest of his ships arrived before disembarking, but he refused. At dawn of 5 June, the landing and subsequent Siege of Damietta began. There was a fierce battle at the edge of the sea led by the king. The onslaught of the knights of France and those of Outremer under John of Ibelin prevailed against the Muslims back. At nightfall, Fakhr ad-Din withdrew over a bridge of boats to Damietta. Finding the population there in panic and the garrison wavering, the Egyptian commander decided to evacuate the city. All the Muslim civilians fled with him, with the Kinana following, but not before setting fire to the bazaars. His orders to destroy the bridge of boats were not implemented, allowing the Crusaders to enter the city. They learned from Christians who had remained that Damietta was undefended. Guillaume de Sonnac wrote of how on the morning after the battle, Damietta had been seized with only one Crusader casualty.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The rapid capture of Damietta was unexpected, but the Nile floods would soon pin down the Crusaders. Louis, knowing the experience of the first Battle of Mansurah in 1221 during the Fifth Crusade, would not advance until the river receded. He was also waiting for the arrival of reinforcements under his brother Alphonse. In the meantime, Damietta was again transformed into a Frankish city. The Amr Ibn al-A'as Mosque became a cathedral, a site where Louis' son would later be baptized. The Genoese and Pisans were rewarded for their services, and similarly for the Venetians, repenting their hostility. The native Coptic Miaphysites were given justice by the king, welcoming his rule. Queen Margaret and the other ladies of the Crusade were summoned from Acre. Louis also welcomed his friend, Baldwin II of Constantinople, who had sold him relics of the Passion that had survived the 1204 sack of the Imperial capital. Throughout the summer months Damietta became the capital of Outremer. But to the soldiers this inaction combined with the humid heat of the Delta brought demoralization. Food began to run short, and there was disease in the camp.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The loss of Damietta once again shocked the Muslim world, and, like his father thirty years before, as-Salih Ayyub offered to trade Damietta for Jerusalem. The offer was rejected as Louis refused to negotiate with an infidel. Meanwhile, those responsible for the loss of the city were punished, with the Kinana emirs executed and Fakhr ad-Din and his Mamluk commanders disgraced. There was talk of a coup, but Fakhr ad-Din stopped them, his loyalty to the dynasty restoring him to favor. Troops were rushed up to Mansurah, built by al-Kamil on the site of his victory over the Crusaders of 1221. The dying as-Salih Ayyub was carried there in a litter to organize the army. Bedouins conducted guerrilla operations around the walls of Damietta, killing any Frank that strayed outside. The Franks erected dykes and dug ditches to protect the city.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Nile waters receded at the end of October 1249, and Alphonse arrived with the reinforcements from France. It was time to advance on Cairo. Peter Maulcerc and the Syrian barons proposed an alternate attack on Alexandria, surprise the Egyptians and control the Mediterranean littoral of Egypt. But Louis’ other brother Robert I of Artois opposed the operation along with the king and, on 20 November 1249, the Frankish army set out from Damietta to Mansurah. A garrison was left to guard the city where the queen and the patriarch Robert of Nantes remained.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Louis' timing of the move was fortuitous. As-Salih Ayyub died on 23 November 1249 after having his leg amputated in an attempt to save his life from a serious abscess. As-Salih did not trust his son al-Muazzam Turanshah and had kept him at a safe distance from Egypt in Hasankeyf. As-Salih's widow, the Armenian-born Shajar al-Durr managed to conceal the news of her husband's death, confiding only in the chief eunuch Jamal ad-Din Mohsen and the commander Fakhr ad-Din. She forged a document under his signature which appointed Turanshah as heir and Fakhr ad-Din as viceroy. Mamluk commander Faris ad-Din Aktai was sent to return Turanshah home. (Turanshah's rule would be brief. His mother married al-Malik al-Muizz Aybak, who served as Mamluk ruler of Egypt, as regent to al-Ashraf Musa and later as sultan.) When as-Salih’s death was finally revealed, the sultana and viceroy were firmly in charge. But the Franks were encouraged by the news and believed that this government would soon collapse.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The route taken by the Crusaders from Damietta was crossed by numerous canals and branches of the Nile. The largest was the al-Bahr as-Saghit (Ushmum canal), which left the main river just below Mansurah and ran past Ashmun al-Rumman to Lake Manzala, isolating the island of Damietta. Fakhr ad-Din kept the bulk of his forces behind the al-Bahr as-Saghir, and sent his cavalry to harass the Franks as they crossed the canals. There was a battle near Fariskur on 7 December 1249, where the Egyptian cavalry was stopped, and the Templars, against all orders, pursued those retreating. On 14 December, Louis reached the village of Barāmūn, just ten miles to the north of their objective, and the next week encamped on the river banks opposite to Mansurah. On 29 December, Bishop Hugh of Clermont died.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: For six weeks, the armies of the West and Egypt faced each other on opposite sides of the canal, leading to second Battle of Mansurah that would end on 11 February 1250 with a Crusader victory. The Egyptians attempted to attack the Franks in the rear was stopped by Charles I of Anjou. Louis had ordered construction to bridge the waterway, but the resultant enemy bombardment, including the use of Greek fire, caused the work to be abandoned. At one point, an Egyptian Copt came to the camp and offered to reveal the location of a ford across the canal. At the dawn of 8 February, the Crusaders set out across the ford. The king led the advancing army while Hugh IV of Burgundy and Renaud de Vichiers remained to guard the camp. The vanguard was led by Robert I of Artois and supported by the Templars and the English contingent. He was under orders not to attack until directed by the king. Once Robert and his force had crossed the river, he feared that the element of surprise would be lost unless he took the offensive. Despite opposition, Robert attacked the Egyptian camp. The Egyptians were unprepared, still beginning their day, when the Frankish cavalry arrived. The Muslims were slaughtered looking for their weapons, the survivors fleeing to Mansurah. Fakhr ad-Din had just left his bath when he heard the attack, leaping on his horse to ride into the battle. He was cut down by Templar knights.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Having taken the Egyptian camp, Robert's commanders Guillaume de Chateauneuf and William Longespée again cautioned him to wait for the main army to arrive. Determined to finish off the Egyptian army, Robert denounced the Templars and the English as cowards and charged toward the fleeing Egyptians. Although Fakhr ad-Din was dead, his commander Rukn ad-Din Baibars, later Mamluk sultan, restored order to the Egyptians. Strategically placing soldiers in the town, he allowed the Frankish cavalry through the open gate and the Egyptians attacked them from the sidestreets. The horses could not turn in the narrow spaces and were thrown into confusion. The few knights that escaped on foot to the river were drown in its waters. The Templars fell fighting, with only five out of 290 surviving. Among the survivors were the Templar master Guillaume de Sonnac, losing an eye, Humbert V de Beaujeu, constable of France, John II of Soissons, and the duke of Brittany, Peter Maulcerc. Counted with the dead were the king's brother Robert I of Artois, William Longespée and most of his English followers, Peter of Courtenay, and Raoul II of Coucy. The survivors hurried to warn the king.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Upon hearing of the battle at the Egyptian camp, Louis drew up his front line to meet an attack, and sent the engineers to make a bridge over the stream. The crossbowmen had been left on the far side to cover the crossing, and now needed to be brought over on a pontoon nearing completion. The Mamluks soon charged out of the town towards his lines. Keeping his force in reserve while the enemy poured arrows into their ranks, Louis ordered a counterattack as soon as their ammunition ran short. The cavalries of the two sides fought back and forth while trying tried to hinder the building of the pontoon. The pontoon was soon finished and the bowmen crossed over, and the Egyptians retired back into the city. Louis had his victory, but a cost of the loss of much of his force and their commanders, including his younger brother. But the victory would be short-lived.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The situation that Louis found himself in was reminiscent of that of the Fifth Crusade when the Crusader army that had captured Damietta was eventually forced to retreat. He would likely suffer the same fate unless the Egyptians would offer him acceptable terms. On 11 February 1250, the Egyptians attacked again, supported by reinforcements from the south, engaging the Franks in a battles. Charles I of Anjou and the Syrian and Cypriot barons at the left held their ground, but the remnants of the Templars and the French nobles at the right wavered, to be rescued by the king. Templar master Guillaume de Sonnac, who had lost an eye at Mansurah, lost the other and died from it. Acting Hospitaller master Jean de Ronay was also killed. Alphonse of Poitiers, guarding the camp was encircled and was rescued by the camp followers. At nightfall, the Muslims gave up the assault and returned to town.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: For eight weeks, Louis waited at the Crusader camp, hoping the leadership problem in Cairo would work to his advantage. Instead, on 28 February 1250, Turanshah arrived from Damascus where he had been proclaimed sultan following his father's death. His arrival was the impetus for a new Egyptian offensive. A squadron of light boats were made and transported by camel to the lower portion of the Nile. There they began to intercept the boats that brought food from Damietta, capturing more than eighty Frankish ships. On 16 March 1250 alone, a convoy of thirty-two were lost at one fell swoop. The Franks were quickly beset by famine and disease, including dysentery and typhoid.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Battle of Fariskur fought on 6 April 1250 would be the decisive defeat of Louis' army. Louis knew that the army must be extricated to Damietta and began negotiations, offering Turanshah the exchange of Damietta for Jerusalem. The Egyptians realized his disadvantageous position and rejected the offer. In planning their retreat, Louis' officers urged him to go immediately to Damietta. He refused to leave his men. It was decided that the sick should be sent by boat down the Nile and the able-bodied should march along the road by which they had come. They departed on the morning of 5 April, and the painful journey began, with the king in the rear and the Egyptians in pursuit. The Franks managed to get across the al-Bahr as-Saghit, but neglected to destroy the pontoon behind them. The Egyptians crossed over and began attacking the Franks from all sides. Their attacks were repulsed and the Franks moved slowly on, with Louis falling ill that night. The next day, the Muslims surrounded the army at the town of Fariskur, 10 miles southwest of Damietta, and attacked in full force. Hugh XI of Lusignan was among the dead. To the sick and weary soldiers, it was clear that the end had come. Geoffrey of Sergines, commander of the royal bodyguard, sheltered the king at nearby Sharamsah. On 6 April, Louis' surrender was negotiated directly with the sultan by Philip of Montfort. The king and his entourage were taken in chains to Mansurah and his whole army was rounded up and led into captivity. The ships conveying the sick to Damietta were surrounded and captured. The Egyptian victory was total. An agonized Templar knight lamented:


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Egyptians were surprised by the large number of prisoners taken, estimated by the sultan himself at 30,000, certainly an exaggeration, but likely most of Louis' force. Unable to guard all of them, the infirm were executed immediately, and every day several hundred were decapitated, by order of the sultan. Louis was moved to a private residence in Mansurah and the Crusader leaders were kept together in a larger prison. While they were threatened with death, their value for ransom allowed them to stay alive. Jean de Joinville, on-board one of the captured ships, saved his life by claiming to be the king’s cousin. It was later revealed that he was actually the emperor's cousin, which served him well as the prestige of Frederick II among the Egyptians was a plus. When Louis was ordered by the sultan to cede not only Damietta but all the Frankish lands in Syria, he noted that they were not under his control, but rather that of Conrad II of Jerusalem, the emperor’s son. The demand was quickly dropped. The final terms exacted from Louis were harsh. He was to ransom himself by the surrender of Damietta and his army by the payment of a million bezants (later reduced to 800,000). After the terms were agreed to, the king and the barons were taken down the river to Fariskur, where the sultan had taken residence. There they would go on to Damietta, the city to be handed over on 30 April 1250.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: That the bargain could be made at all was due in large part to the queen. When Louis began his march on Mansurah, Margaret of Provence was in the later stages of pregnancy and their son John Tristan, the child of sorrow, was born on 8 April, three days after the news came of the surrender of the army. At the same time, she learned that the Pisans and Genoese were planning to evacuate Damietta due to lack of food. She knew that Damietta could not hold without the Italians and she summoned their leaders. If Damietta were to be abandoned there would be nothing to offer towards the release of her husband. She proposed buying all the food in the city and distributing at an enormous cost, and they agreed to stay, boosting the morale of the city. Soon thereafter, she was moved to Acre, while the Latin patriarch Robert of Nantes went under safe-conduct to complete the arrangements for the ransom with the sultan.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Robert arrived there to find Turanshah dead, murdered on 2 May 1250 in a coup instigated by his stepmother Shajar al-Durr and led by Baibars. Aybak became commander after Turanshah's assassination, later marrying his widow. HIs safe-conduct guaranteed by Turanshah was viewed as valueless and treated him as a prisoner. Some Mamluks brandished their swords before the king and the captive barons, still covered with the executed sultan's blood. But, in the end, the Egyptians confirmed the agreed-upon terms. When Louis was asked to swear that he would renounce Christ if he failed in his bargain, he refused. On 6 May, Geoffrey of Sergines handed Damietta over to the Muslim vanguard. The king and the nobles were later brought there and Louis set about finding money for the first installment of the ransom, at first coming up short. Until the remainder could be found, the Egyptians held back releasing the king’s brother Alphonse. The Templars, known to have a large supply of money, finally agreed to provide what was required. Louis and the barons set sail for Acre, where they arrived on 12 May 1250 after a stormy voyage. Many wounded soldiers had been left behind at Damietta, and contrary to their promise, the Muslims massacred them all.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Seventh Crusade would not end for another four years, but there would be no further battles. In Acre, Louis pursued the release of his imprisoned army and attempted to bring order to an increasingly chaotic Outremer. Louis was the last of the Crusader leaders to reach actually the shores of the eastern Mediterranean, and his failure was keenly felt in the West as well as the Holy Land and Muslim world. When the extent of the disaster reached mainland Europe, unrest in Venice and other Italian cities was reported. France plunged into a sort of public mourning. For many, the grief was immediate and personal; for lost those lost in battle or in captivity. In France reactions took a more aggressive turn, which revealed the extent of popular disenchantment.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The death of Turanshah essentially ended the Ayyubid dynasty begun by Saladin. Shajar al-Durr was not accepted by the Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad. Shajar, who had married her commander Aybak, then abdicated and passed the throne to her husband. Aybak's formal rule ended after just five days. The Bahri Mamluks that essentially controlled Egypt at this point installed as sultan the 6-year-old al-Ashraf Musa. Nevertheless, the actual power in Egypt was still exercised by Aybak, who had returned to his position of atabeg. Egypt would remain a Mamluk sultanate through 1517.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Henry III of England took the Cross with many of his subjects in the spring of 1250 but convinced the pope to postpone any expedition. Louis’ brothers refused to send help from France where public opinion was indignant but disillusioned. The French nobles contented themselves with bitter comments against the pope who preferred to preach a crusade against the Christian Imperialists rather than to send help to those who were struggling against the infidel. On 13 December 1250, Frederick II, who remained respected in Muslim circles, died in Italy. His son Conrad II of Jerusalem lacked the emperor's prestige but inherited the pope's crusade against his father. Blanche of Castile went so far as to confiscate the property of any royal vassal who responded to the appeal of Innocent IV for a crusade against Conrad in 1251. But neither she nor her advisers ventured to send reinforcements to the East.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Shepherds’ Crusade ("Crucesignatio pastorellorum") of 1251 was a popular crusade of poor shepherds and peasants from the Low Countries and northern France who set out with the objective of aiding the captive Louis IX and rescuing the Holy Land from the infidels. After his release from the Egyptians, Louis sent his brothers to France to obtain relief and his mother Blanche of Castile, acting as regent, endeavoured in vain to find reinforcements as neither the noblemen nor the clergy would help. At this juncture the citizens rose up, announcing that they would go to the king's rescue. At Eastertime 1251, a mysterious person known as the "Le Maître de Hongrie" (Master of Hungary) began to preach a crusade to the shepherds in the north of France, always holding a map supposedly given to him by the Virgin Mary. He drew large crowds and allowed them to take the cross without papal authorization.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The movement spread rapidly and soon an army of the Pastoureaux of nearly 60,000 men was formed, carrying a banner on which was depicted the Blessed Virgin appearing to the Master of Hungary. The army soon showed themselves hostile to the clergy, especially to the Dominicans, whom they accused of having induced the king to go to the Holy Land. A host of less-than-desirable men and women soon joined their ranks, and with growing audacity attacked clerics and preached against the bishops and even the pope. Blanche imagined that she could send the Pastoureaux to the relief of her son, and met with the master, providing him with gifts. Emboldened, the Pastoureaux entered Paris with predictable mayhem. After Paris, they divided into several armies which spread terror across France. Blanche finally realized that she had been mistaken and commanded the royal officers to arrest and destroy them. A troop of citizens pursued and halted them near Villeneuve-sur-Cher. The Master of Hungary was slain, together with a large number of his followers, ending one of the most curious of the popular movements.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: After his arrival at Acre, Louis reviewed his future plans. His mother had urged his speedy return to France given unrest among the populace and other urgent problems. But he felt that he should stay. His disastrous crusade had destroyed both the French and Outremer armies. It was also his duty to remain at hand until the last of the prisoners in Egypt was released. On 3 July he publicly announced his decision to stay. A letter was sent to the nobles of France telling of his decision and asking for reinforcements for the Crusade. He had felt bitterly the failure of his great effort with the loss of thousands of lives.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The king’s brothers and the leading nobles of the Crusade sailed from Acre in mid-July, leaving an army of about 1400 men in the Holy Land. The queen remained with the king and their son John Tristan would soon be joined by siblings Peter of Alençon in 1251 and Blanche of France in 1253. He was the "de facto" ruler of the kingdom, especially after Frederick's death, even though the throne was legitimately that of Conrad II of Jerusalem, who would never now come to the East. The regency had passed from Alice of Champagne to her son Henry I of Cyprus. He had, in turn, nominated his cousin John of Arsuf as "bailli," who handed over the government to Louis. He was far more successful in handling the citizens of Outremer than Frederick had been. He successfully resolved the Antiochean crisis after the death of Bohemond V of Antioch on 17 January 1252. Bohemond VI of Antioch, aged fifteen, succeeded at the principality under the regency of his mother Lucienne of Segni, who handed the governing to her Italian relatives. Bohemond VI, knowing of his mother's unpopularity petitioned the pope, with Louis’ approval, to come of age a few months before the legal date. Innocent IV agreed and Bohemond was knighted by the king at Acre, with Lucienne removed from power. At the same time Louis completed the reconciliation of Antioch and Armenia, erasing previous bad relations with Hethum I of Armenia. In 1254, on Louis’ suggestion, Bohemond VI married the Armenian king's daughter Sibylla of Armenia, essentially becoming a vassal of his father-in-law’s and getting the Armenians to share in the protection of Antioch.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Henry I of Cyprus died on 18 January 1253, leaving as heir his son, Hugh II of Cyprus, only a few months old. His widow, Plaisance of Antioch, daughter of Bohemond V, claimed the regency of both Cyprus and of Jerusalem. The barons of Outremer required her attendance in person before they would recognize regency and John of Arsuf, remained meanwhile as "bailli," and Plaisance would eventually marrying his son Balian of Arsuf. But, in reality, Louis continued to administer the government.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: His experience in Egypt, tempered by his current lack of an armed force, led him to consider diplomatic relations with the Muslims. The time was favorable for diplomacy as the Mamluk takeover in Egypt was not well received in Syria, with their strong loyalties to the Ayyubids. Following Turanshah’s death, an-Nasir Yusuf conducted a friendly takeover of Damascus on 9 July 1250. The resultant rivalry between Cairo and Damascus served Louis well with both eager for aid from the Franks. Shortly after he arrived at Acre, Louis received an embassy from an-Nasir Yusuf, but he remained noncommittal. An Acre-Damascene alliance might be strategically preferable, but he had to consider that men that were still imprisoned in Egypt.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Damascene army of an-Nasir Yusuf invaded Egypt and encountered the Egyptian army under Aybak on 2 February 1251 near Zagazig. The Syrians were at first successful, but one of their regiments of Mamluks deserted in the midst of the battle. Yusuf, not known for his courage, fled back to Damascus. Mamluk power in Egypt was saved, but the Ayyubids still held Palestine and Syria. When Yusuf contacted Acre proposing that he might trade Jerusalem in return for Frankish help, Louis sent an embassy to Cairo under John of Valenciennes warning Aybak that unless the question of the Frankish prisoners was soon settled he would ally himself with Damascus. His ploy succeeded in securing the release of some 3000 captives, including Hospitaller master Guillaume de Chateauneuf, taken in 1244 at Gaza, in exchange for 300 Muslim prisoners. Louis then demanded the release of all remaining prisoners remaining without payment of the second installment of his ransom. Aybek, realizing that Louis' envoy was visiting Damascus, consented in return for a military alliance against Yusuf. He further promised the return of the pre-1187 kingdom as far east as the Jordan. Louis accepted the offer and the prisoners were released in March 1252. The Templars stubbornly refused to break off relations with Damascus and Louis was forced to rebuke them publicly and demand an apology.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: When an-Nasir Yusuf learned of the treaty, he deployed his troops between the two now-allies, in Gaza. Louis moved his troops to Jaffa but the Mamluks failed to advance out of Egypt. For a year, the Syrians and the Franks remained deadlocked, neither wishing a battle. In the meantime, Louis repaired the fortifications of Jaffa as had done for those of Acre, Haifa and Caesarea. Early in 1253, Yusuf asked Baghdad to mediate between him and the Mamluks. Al-Musta'sim wished to unite the Muslim world against the Mongols, and he asked Aybak to accept Damascus’ terms. Aybak was recognized as sultan of Egypt and allowed to annex most of Palestine. The peace was signed in April 1253 and the previous arrangement with the Franks, including return of kingdom territory, was long forgotten. Nonetheless, neither Muslim leader showed any further desire for war with the Franks.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: There was no support from the West for a continued Crusade and in his search for foreign allies, Louis looked to two unlikely sources: the Assassins and the Mongols. The chief "da'i" of the Assassins in Syria was Radi ad-Din Abu'l-Ma'āli. After the Franks' disaster at Damietta, Radi brazenly demanded from Acre compensation for their neutrality and, in particular, to be released from their tribute paid to the Hospitallers. He was rebuffed and next sent a humbler embassy, bringing gifts for the king, and requesting a close alliance. Louis, learning of the hostility of the Isma'ili sect towards the more orthodox Sunni Muslims, encouraged their advances and a pact of mutual defense was concluded. Louis’ main diplomatic initiative was to secure the friendship of the Mongols, an enemy of the Assassins. Early in 1253, Louis learned that a Mongol prince, Sartaq, son of Batu Khan, had been converted to Christianity. He immediately sent a contingent led by the Dominican William of Rubruck to urge Sartaq to come to the aid of his fellow Christians in Syria. But it was not within the power of such a junior Mongol prince to conclude such an alliance and no further contract would occur prior to Louis' departure from the Holy Land.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: While the Dominicans journeyed further into Asia to the court of Möngke Khan, Louis decided to return home. His mother had died on 27 November 1252, and her death was quickly followed by disarray in his kingdom. Henry III again began to make trouble, despite his oath to go on crusade, and he would not support his bishops whom Innocent IV had charged with preaching the crusade. Civil unrest was rampant, with the War of the Flemish Succession and many of the vassals of France growing restive. Louis’ duty was to his own kingdom in France and he prepared to return home. He and his family sailed from Acre on 24 April 1254. His boat was nearly wrecked off the coast of Cyprus and later was nearly destroyed by fire. In July, the royal party landed at Hyeres, in the territory of the king’s brother, Charles I of Anjou. The Seventh Crusade was over, again having accomplished nothing but the loss of lives and treasure.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Seventh Crusade had involved Outremer in a terrible military catastrophe. Although Louis' four years at Acre did much to repair the damage, the loss of manpower would never be recovered. His coming to the East had been simultaneously unfortunate and necessary, but his departure brought the risk of immediate harm. He left behind him as his representative Geoffrey of Sergines as seneschal to the kingdom. The "bailli" of the kingdom was now John of Ibelin, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, who had succeeded his cousin John of Arsuf. The latter John was likely in Cyprus, advising Plaisance, legal regent of both kingdoms. The death of Conrad II of Jerusalem on 21 May 1254 resulted in his two-year-old son Conradin becoming the king of Jerusalem, albeit nominally. As one of his last official acts, Louis arranged a multi-year truce with Damascus beginning 21 February 1254, as an-Nasir Yusuf was justifyably concerned about the Mongol peril and had no wish for war with the Franks. Aybak of Egypt also wished to avoid war and in 1255 made a ten years’ truce with the Franks. Jaffa was expressly excluded from the truce, as the sultan wished to secure it as a port for his Palestinian province. The frontier between the parties were subject to constant raids and counter-raids. In January 1256, the Franks captured a large caravan of pack animals. When the Mamluk governor of Jerusalem led an expedition in March to punish the raiders, he was defeated and killed. Aybak made a new treaty with Damascus, again with the caliph’s mediation, ceding Palestine. Both Muslim powers renewed their truces with the Franks, to last ten years and to cover the territory of Jaffa.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The Ayyubid dynasty would essentially end with the Siege of Aleppo from 18 January to 24 January 1260 in which the Mongols completed their invasion of the Levant. Later that year, on 3 September 1260, the Mamluks defeated the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut, halting the advance of the Ilkhanate. As the Mamluk dynasty grew in power under Baibars, Louis IX petitioned Clement IV, elected pope in 1265, to go on yet another expedition, the Eighth Crusade.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: A partial list of those that participated in the Seventh Crusade can be found in the category collections of and .


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The failure of the Seventh Crusade engendered several poetic responses from the Occitan troubadours. Austorc d'Aorlhac, composing shortly after the Crusade, was surprised that God would allow Louis IX to be defeated, but not surprised that some Christians would therefore convert to Islam.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: In a later poem, "D'un sirventes m'es gran voluntatz preza", Bernart de Rovenac attacks both James I of Aragon and Henry III of England for neglecting to defend their fiefs that the "rei que conquer Suria" ( the king who conquered Syria) had possessed. The "rei que conquer Suria" is a mocking reference to Louis, who was still in Syria in 1254 when Bernart was writing, probably in hopes that the English and Aragonese kings would take advantage of the French monarch's absence.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: Raoul de Soissons, a trouvère who travelled with the Crusader force wrote several chanson dedicated to Charles I of Anjou. However, Bertran d'Alamanon criticized Charles' neglect of Provence in favor of crusading. He wrote one of his last works, which bemoans Christendom's decline overseas, between the Seventh and Eighth Crusades, c.1260–1265.


title: Seventh Crusade

text: The 19th-century French work "Recueil des historiens des croisades" (RHC) documents the several of the original narrative sources of the Seventh Crusade from Latin and Arabic authors. The documents are presented in their original language with French translations. A complete bibliography can be found in "The Routledge Companion to the Crusades." See also Crusade Texts in Translation and "Selected Sources: The Crusades," in Fordham University's "Internet Medieval Sourcebook."


title: PPD-40

text: The PPD ("Pistolet-Pulemyot Degtyaryova", Russian: Пистоле́т-пулемёт "Дегтярёва", Degtyaryov's machine pistol) is a submachine gun originally designed in 1934 by Vasily Degtyaryov. The PPD had a conventional wooden stock, fired from an open bolt, and was capable of selective fire. It was replaced by the PPSh-41.


title: PPD-40

text: Developed in the Soviet Union by arms designer Vasily Degtyaryov. The PPD was designed to chamber the new Soviet 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol cartridge, which was based on the 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridge used in the Mauser C96 pistol. The later PPD models utilized a large drum magazine for the ammunition drum.


title: PPD-40

text: The PPD officially went into military service with the Red Army in 1935 as the PPD-34, although it was not produced in large quantities. Production issues were not solved until 1937; in 1934 only 44 were produced, in 1935 only 23; production picked up in 1937 with 1,291 produced, followed by 1,115 produced in 1938 and 1,700 produced in 1939. It saw use with the NKVD internal forces as well as border guards. The PPD was decommissioned entirely in 1939 and factory orders cancelled following a directive of the People's Commissariat of Defence Industry; the decision was quickly reversed, though, after the personal intervention of Degtyaryov with Stalin, with whom he had a good personal relationship. During the Winter War in 1939 with Finland, an acute lack of individual automatic weapons even led to the reintroduction of the stockpiled Fedorov Avtomats into service.


title: PPD-40

text: In 1938 and 1940, modifications were designated PPD-34/38 and PPD-40 respectively, and introduced minor changes, mostly aimed at making it easier to manufacture. Mass production began in 1940, a year in which 81,118 PPDs were produced. Nevertheless, the PPD-40 was too labor- and resource-expensive to mass-produce economically, most of its metal components being produced by milling. Although it was used in action in World War II, it was officially replaced by the superior and cheaper PPSh-41 by the end of 1941. Shpagin's great innovation in Soviet automatic weapons manufacturing was the large-scale introduction of stamped metal parts, particularly receivers; the PPSh also had a muzzle climb compensator which significantly improved accuracy over the PPD. In 1941 only 5,868 PPDs were made, compared to 98,644 PPSh and in the following year almost 1.5 million PPSh were produced.


title: PPD-40

text: PPDs captured by Finnish forces during the Winter War and Continuation War were issued to coastal and home guard troops and kept in reserve until approximately 1960. PPD-34/38 and PPD-40 submachine guns captured by the Wehrmacht were given the designations MP.715(r) and MP.716(r) respectively.


title: PPD-40

text: A number of PPD-like submachine guns were also manufactured in a semi-artisanal way by gunsmiths among the hundreds of thousands of Soviet partisans. These guns, even when made as late as 1944, used milling because metal stamping requires large industrial facilities that were not available to the partisans. There are no firm numbers about how many were made, but there were at least six partisan gunsmiths each making his own model series. One of them is known to have produced 28 such sub-machine guns in approximately two years.


title: Ultramega OK

text: Ultramega OK is the debut studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on October 31, 1988 by SST Records. Following the release of the EPs "Screaming Life" (1987) and "Fopp" (1988), both for the Sub Pop record label, Soundgarden signed with SST and went to work on their debut full-length. The resulting album contained elements of heavy metal, psychedelic rock, and hardcore punk. The band supported the album with a tour of the United States, as well as its first overseas tour.


title: Ultramega OK

text: The album was recorded in spring 1988 in Seattle, Washington, and Newberg, Oregon, with producer Drew Canulette. Frontman Chris Cornell said that during the recording sessions the band wasn't on the same page with Canulette. He said, "Material-wise we went through the process that we always do, but the producer wasn't used to the sound we wanted and didn't know what was happening in Seattle." Prior to the recording of the album, Randy Burns (Megadeth) was considered to be the producer but declined due to not wanting to relocate to Seattle.


title: Ultramega OK

text: Later, in a 1995 interview, Cornell admitted "we made a huge mistake with "Ultramega OK", because we left our home surroundings and people we'd been involved with and used this producer that really did affect our album in a kind of negative way. The producer was suggested by SST because they could get a good deal. I regret it, because in terms of material, it should have been one of the best records we ever did. It actually slowed down our momentum a little bit because it didn't really sound like us."


title: Ultramega OK

text: Around that same time, veteran Seattle producer Jack Endino, who also produced Soundgarden's first EP, "Screaming Life", began the process of remixing the album, and actually completed a rough mix of "Flower". But, due to the band wanting to move on and the financial costs involved with re-pressing and redistributing the record, it was put on hold. The project resumed in 2014 by Jack Endino and Kim Thayil, and was completed in 2017.


title: Ultramega OK

text: "Ultramega OK" has elements of 1960s psychedelic rock, 1970s hard rock and heavy metal, and 1980s hardcore punk. Drummer Matt Cameron said that the band tried to refine its sound while still trying to keep an edge. Steve Huey of AllMusic said that the album is the "best expression of Soundgarden's early, Stooges/MC5-meets-Zeppelin/Sabbath sound", and added that it is "a dark, murky, buzzing record that simultaneously subverts and pays tribute to heavy metal".


title: Ultramega OK

text: Guitarist Kim Thayil recalls "Flower" as being the first time he blew across his guitar strings. This can be heard during the song's introduction, when they are played in rhythm with the drums. "Circle of Power" was one of the few Soundgarden songs to be written without any input from Cornell, as it was written by Thayil and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. It is also the only Soundgarden song on which Yamamoto performs lead vocals.


title: Ultramega OK

text: "Smokestack Lightning" is a Howlin' Wolf cover. On the original version of the album, "Smokestack Lightning" segued into a distorted excerpt from the Sonic Youth song, "Death Valley '69". Soundgarden included it as a tribute/parody of Sonic Youth's similar sampling of The Stooges song "Not Right" on their "Bad Moon Rising" album. This excerpt was removed from the 2017 reissue of "Ultramega OK".


title: Ultramega OK

text: Cornell said that "Flower" is "about a girl...who becomes a woman and basically invests everything in vanity and then burns out quick." Thayil stated that "Nazi Driver" is about "cutting up Nazis and making stew out of them". Cornell observed that the lyrics and vocals for "Incessant Mace" are "very European Gothic".


title: Ultramega OK

text: Three songs on the album were recorded as jokes or parodies by the band. The songs "665" and "667" are parodies of the idea of Satanic content in rock music, the idea being that if 666 is such a powerful number, then the surrounding numbers must be equally as powerful. The album's closing track, "One Minute of Silence", is a "cover" of John Lennon's "Two Minutes of Silence" from the 1969 album, "", excluding Yoko Ono's part. Cornell said that the band "appreciated the Lennon arrangement so much". No instruments are played, although the band (presumably) can be faintly heard in the background. Cornell stated, "We were trying real hard to shut up, but Kim couldn't possibly shut up for a whole minute."


title: Ultramega OK

text: Cornell said, "On ["Ultramega OK"] the production wasn't what we were after at all, and that sort of hurt us critically." Allmusic staff writer Steve Huey gave the album four out of five stars, saying, "It may not be quite as complex or consistent as some of Soundgarden's later albums, but "Ultramega OK" is easily the best document of grunge's early, pre-Nirvana days." Ann Powers of "Blender" said, "Not every moment is brilliant, but it sure is loud."


title: Ultramega OK

text: "Flower" was the only single released from the album. Its music video, directed by Mark Miremont, aired regularly on MTV's "120 Minutes", helping to call attention to the early Seattle grunge scene.


title: Ultramega OK

text: The album's cover art, photographed by Lance Mercer, features a black and white picture of the band. According to Cornell, the album's title was a joke conceived by Thayil. Cornell explained that the title "Ultramega OK" means "absolutely, unbelievably not bad," and suggested that the British version was going to be called "Ultramega UK". Cornell explained the title further, stating, "With "Ultramega OK" we really liked the songs on that record but we were disappointed in the production. We were sort of making fun of the finished product. It was "Ultramega Alright". "Ultramega could have been better but not bad"."


title: Ultramega OK

text: Soundgarden supported the album with a tour in the United States in the spring of 1989 and a tour in Europe, which began in May 1989 and was the band's first overseas tour.


title: Ultramega OK

text: A new reissue of "Ultramega OK" was released on March 10, 2017 on Sub Pop in four formats, namely, black and colored double LP, CD, cassette tape, and digital download. The album was fully remixed and remastered from the original tapes by Jack Endino. It includes, as bonus tracks, six early eight-track versions of songs from the same album, taken from a demo tape, informally called the "Ultramega EP" by the band members, recorded by Endino and Chris Hanzsek at Reciprocal Recording studio in 1987.


title: Ultramega OK

text: On cassette only, there is a 20th track titled "13 Minutes of Silence Remix", similar to the joke track "One Minute of Silence" from the original release.


title: Groton School

text: Groton School (founded as Groton School for Boys) is a private college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Ranked as one of the top five boarding high schools in the United States in Niche (2021–2022), it is affiliated with the Episcopalian tradition.


title: Groton School

text: Groton enrolls about 380 boys and girls, from the eighth through twelfth grades. It has one of the largest endowments of any prep school in the country at $477,000,000 as of June 30, 2021. Tuition, room and board, and required fees in 2014–2015 amounted to $56,700 (with books extra); 38% of the students receive financial aid.


title: Groton School

text: The school is a member of the Independent School League. There are many famous Groton alumni in business and government, including U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. For the 2020–2021 admissions cycle, Groton School reported an acceptance rate of 9%.


title: Groton School

text: Groton School was founded in 1884 by the Rev. Endicott Peabody, a member of a prominent Massachusetts family and an Episcopal clergyman. The land for the school was donated to Peabody by two brothers, James and Prescott Lawrence, whose family home was located on Farmers Row in Groton, Massachusetts, north of Groton School's present location. Backed by affluent figures of the time, such as his father, Samuel Endicott Peabody, the Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks, the Rev. William Lawrence, William Crowninshield Endicott, and J.P. Morgan, Peabody received pledges of $39,000 for the construction of a schoolhouse, if an additional $40,000 could be raised as an endowment. The endowment is $477,000,000 as of June 30, 2021, or well over $1,000,000 per student today. Groton School received early support from the Roosevelt family, including future President Theodore Roosevelt, and filled quickly.


title: Groton School

text: Peabody served as headmaster of the school for over fifty years, until his retirement in 1940. He instituted a Spartan educational system that included cold showers and cubicles, subscribing to the model of "muscular Christianity" which he himself experienced at Cheltenham College in England as a boy. Peabody hoped to graduate men who would serve the public good, rather than enter professional life.


title: Groton School

text: Peabody was succeeded at the end of the 1940 school year by the Rev. John Crocker, who had been for 10 years the chaplain for Episcopal students at Princeton University. He himself was a 1918 graduate of Groton School; 15 members of his family were alumni. Crocker's tenure included the period of the Civil Rights Movement. In September 1951, three years before the Supreme Court's "Brown v. Board of Education" decision outlawing segregation in public schools, Groton School accepted its first African-American student. In April 1965 Crocker and his wife, accompanied by 75 Groton School students, marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., during a civil rights demonstration in Boston. After 25 years as headmaster at Groton School, he retired in June 1965. After Crocker, the Rev. Bertrand Honea Jr., led the School from 1965 to 1969; Paul Wright from 1969 to 1974; the Rev. Rowland Cox from 1974 to 1977; William Polk from 1978 to 2003; and Richard Commons from 2003 to 2013. A South African, Temba Maqubela, became the headmaster in July 2013.


title: Groton School

text: Groton School has changed significantly since 1884. Originally, it admitted only boys; the school became coeducational in 1975. Although most students in the early years were from New England and New York, its students now come from across the country and around the world. However, some traditions remain, such as the school's commitment to public service, its small community, and its attachment to the Episcopal Church.


title: Groton School

text: The school has been used as a setting for several novels including Louis Auchincloss' "Rector of Justin" (1964). Curtis Sittenfeld's "Prep" (2005) has prompted speculation that the fictitious Ault School, the main setting of the novel, is in fact Groton School, as they bear striking resemblances and Sittenfeld herself attended Groton. Media coverage of the school came in the spring of 1999, when three Groton seniors alleged they and other students had been sexually abused by students in dormitories in 1996 and 1997.


title: Groton School

text: The GRAIN (GRoton Affordability and INclusion) initiative, begun in 2014, froze tuition for three years and ensured that no applicant would be turned away for financial reasons. The tuition freeze, and subsequent tuition restraint, dropped Groton's tuition from #1 among 40 peer schools to #39. Currently, Groton is one of three secondary boarding schools in the country to offer free education to qualified students from families with household incomes below $75,000 a year.


title: Groton School

text: Groton has a campus, including athletic fields, academic buildings and dormitories. The School's buildings include St. John's Chapel, the Schoolhouse, Brooks House and Hundred House Dormitories, the McCormick Library, the Campbell Performing Arts Center, the Dining Hall, the Dillon Art Center and De Menil Gallery. Other facilities include the Athletic and Recreation Center, Pratt and O'Brien Rinks and Tennis Center, the Bingham Boathouse, outdoor tennis clay courts and hardcourts, and faculty homes.


title: Groton School

text: George Biddle, a 1902 graduate, wrote, "Ninety-five percent of the boys came from what they considered the aristocracy of America. Their fathers belonged to the Somerset, the Knickerbocker, the Philadelphia or the Baltimore Clubs. Among them was a goodly slice of the wealth of the nation".


title: Groton School

text: The Form of 2013 median SAT scores were 700 reading, 710 writing, and 700 math. Between 2008 and 2012, Groton graduates attended the following colleges most frequently (in order): Georgetown University, Harvard University, Trinity College, Yale University, Tufts University, Stanford University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Princeton University, and the University of Pennsylvania.


title: Groton School

text: In Spring 1999, Middlesex County DA's Office began investigating the claim of three Groton seniors. They alleged they, and other students, had been sexually abused by students in dormitories in 1996 and 1997. During the school's investigation of the matter, another student brought a similar complaint to the school's attention. In 2005, the school pleaded guilty in criminal court to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report this younger student's sexual abuse complaint to the state and paid a $1,250 fine. The school issued an apology to the victims, and the civil suit stemming from the first student's complaint was settled out of court. In the fall of 2006, as part of the settlement, the School published a full apology to the boy who first alleged the abuse in 1999.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: Juan Francisco Estrada Romero (born April 14, 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held "The Ring" super flyweight title since 2019. He previously held the WBA (Unified) and WBO flyweight titles between 2012 and 2015, and the WBC super flyweight title in March 2021 and the WBA (Super) title from March 2021 to August 2022. He also challenged once for the WBA light flyweight title in 2012. As of January 2021, Estrada is ranked as the world's ninth best active boxer, pound for pound, by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), seventh by "The Ring", and tenth by Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) . He is also ranked as the world's best active super flyweight by The Ring and the TBRB and BoxRec.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: Estrada lost his parents at the age of 7. He was raised by his aunt, and picked up boxing when he was 9. At the age of 15, Estrada moved from his native Puerto Peñasco to Hermosillo to focus on his boxing career. As an amateur, Estrada compiled a 94–4 record.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: Estrada made his professional debut on August 30, 2008, at the age of 18. Estrada won his first regional belt 2 years later, in October 2010. He defeated Manuel Almendariz by TKO for the WBC Mundo Hispano super flyweight belt. Estrada suffered his first loss against Juan Carlos Sánchez, Jr. in May 2011. Sánchez stands at 5 ft 8, giving him a significant size advantage over most flyweights. Estrada traded knockdowns with Sánchez but he lost the 8-round bout by unanimous decision.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: Later that year, Estrada participated in the boxing reality show "Campeón Azteca: Round 3" that took place between September to December 2011 in Tuxtla Gutiérrez. The show featured 16 super flyweight fighters competing in an elimination tournament. Estrada won his first fight by unanimous decision (60-54, 60–54, 60–54) against fellow prospect Ivan Diaz. In his second fight in the tournament, Estrada stopped veteran Juan Carlos Tirado in the second round. Estrada won one more fight against Luis May to qualify to the competition's final.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: In the competition's final bout, Estrada would face Sánchez Jr. once again. Estrada went down in the second round after a left straight from Sánchez. Later on, with both fighters trading punches in the final round, Sánchez was rocked by a left hook from Estrada. Estrada continued throwing combinations and eventually scored a knockdown over Sánchez. Sánchez attempted to get up but the referee waived the count, giving Estrada the win by TKO with 1:02 elapsed in the tenth and final round. Both Estrada and Sánchez would go on to become world champions.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: On November 17, 2012, Estrada moved down from his natural division to challenge WBA light flyweight champion Román González. This was Estrada's first fight outside his native Mexico. He lost a unanimous decision (112-116, 112–116, 110–118) to González, the future number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter. González would later say that he was interested in a rematch against Estrada after one of his successful flyweight world title defenses.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: On April 6, 2013, Estrada once again challenged for a world title, fighting Brian Viloria at the Cotai Arena in Macau, China, for the WBA (Super) and WBO Flyweight titles. Viloria had unified his titles against Hernán Márquez on the same event in which Gónzalez defeated Estrada. Estrada appeared to lose the early rounds against Viloria, but he would surge on the latter rounds, landing combinations that gave him the edge. Estrada won by split decision (117-111, 116–111, 113–115), thus becoming the new unified champion. Although, observers of the fight felt that the victory should have been ruled a unanimous decision in favor of Estrada.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: In his first defense, he defeated number one ranked challenger and future champion Milan Melindo by unanimous decision (118-109, 118–109, 117–109). Melindo was knocked down in round 11, as Estrada cruised to a shutout win. Estrada would fight three times in 2014, scoring victories over Richie Mepranum, former champion Giovani Segura, and Jobert Alvarez in a non-title fight. In 2015, he added two additional title defenses, against Rommel Asenjo and former champion Hernán Márquez. He then took a break from boxing to undergo surgery on his right hand. During Estrada's reign as a flyweight champion he became known for his refined technique and accurate punching.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: Following 3 and a half years as unified flyweight champion and five titles defenses, Estrada vacated his titles in September 2016 to campaign in the super flyweight division. Estrada said that he could no longer make the flyweight 112 lbs limit. After spending a year away from the ring, Estrada came back against gatekeeper Raymond Tabugon in October 2016 in his native Puerto Peñasco. Estrada won an easy unanimous decision (100-90, 100–90, 100–90).


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: In June 2017, it was revealed that Estrada would face Carlos Cuadras. Following Srisaket Sor Rungvisai's unanimous decision win over Román González, Cuadras was the mandatory challenger for Sor Rungvisai, the World Boxing Council's champion. However, the WBC ordered a rematch between Sor Rungvisai and González in light of the controversy around the González-Sor Rungvisai decision. Cuadras then had to face Estrada, the next available ranked contender. The fight was scheduled for the Sor Rungvisai-González undercard on September 9, 2017, at Carson's StubHub Center.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: On fight night, Cuadras seemed to gain the upper hand in the early rounds, switch-hitting and throwing and landing more punches. Nevertheless, Estrada was able to slowly impose his methodical style in the second half of the fight, even dropping Cuadras in round 11. Michael Buffer incorrectly announced "Carlos Estrada" as the winner of the fight, but after some confusion he corrected his mistake, giving Juan Francisco Estrada the win by unanimous decision (114-113, 114–113, 114–113).


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: On February, 2018, Estrada who was ranked #1 by the WBC at super flyweight, challenged Srisaket Sor Rungvisai for the WBC and The Ring super flyweight titles. Estrada boxed well at times, and managed to connect multiple times on Rungvisai, who was able to take Estrada's best shots. Estrada too, was getting hit often by Rungvisai, but was able to take the champion's power. In the twelfth round, Estrada, perhaps sensing he is need of a knockout to win, fought aggressively. In the end, it was not enough, as Estrada fell short of winning his first world title at super flyweight, as two of the judges saw Rungvisai as the winner, scoring it 117-111 and 115–113, and one judge had the fight a draw, 114-114.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: In his next fight, Estrada, ranked #1 by the WBC, fought #7 ranked Felipe Orucuta. Estrada came out with a unanimous decision victory, 118–110, 117-111 and 117–111 on the scorecards, however, the contest was tougher for Estrada than what was expected by fans and media alike.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: On December 8, 2018, Estrada stepped in on short notice and fought Victor Mendez at super bantamweight. The fight ended up being a good stay-busy fight for Estrada, as he dominated every second of the fight. After seven rounds, Mendez had had enough of it, and the fight was officially stopped.


title: Juan Francisco Estrada

text: On the 13th of March, 2021, Estrada faced WBA (Super) super flyweight champion, Román González in a highly anticipated rematch. This was the second time the pair met, after their first fight in 2012 ended in a unanimous decision win for Gonzalez. Both fighters were throwing a lot of punches, with Compubox crediting both with 2529 thrown punches combined, making it the busiest fight at 115 pounds the company has ever tracked. In a very close and thrilling fight, Gonzalez seemed to have narrowly outlanded Estrada. However, Estrada earned the split-decision victory having two judges score the fight in his favor, 117-111 and 115–113, while the third judge had it 115-113 for Gonzalez.


title: Rabobank

text: Rabobank (; full name: "Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.") is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Rabobank Nederland), and many specialised international offices and subsidiaries. Food and agribusiness constitute the primary international focus of the Rabobank Group. Rabobank is the second-largest bank in the Netherlands in terms of total assets.


title: Rabobank

text: A 2013 scandal resulted in a $1 billion fine for unscrupulous trading practices, which included the manipulation of LIBOR currency rates worldwide. Chief Executive Piet Moerland resigned immediately as a result.


title: Rabobank

text: In terms of Tier 1 capital, the organisation is among the 30 largest financial institutions in the world. As of December 2014, total assets amount to €681 billion with a net profit of €1.8 billion. "Global Finance" ranks Rabobank 25th in its survey of "the world's safest banks".


title: Rabobank

text: Rooted in agriculture, Rabobank is set up as a federation of local credit unions that offer services to the local markets.


title: Rabobank

text: The bank was rooted in the ideas of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, the founder of the cooperative movement of credit unions, who in 1864 created the first farmers' bank in Germany. Being a countryside mayor he was confronted with the abject poverty of the farmers and their families. He tried to alleviate this need through charitable aid, but realised that self-reliance had more potential in the long run, and thus converted his charitable foundation into a farmers' bank in 1864. In doing so he created the "Darlehnskassen-Verein", which collected the savings of countryside dwellers and provided enterprising farmers with loans.


title: Rabobank

text: This model found a lot of interest in the Netherlands at the end of the 19th century. One of the first of Raiffeisen's followers was Father Gerlacus van den Elsen, who stood at the basis of a number of local farmers' banks in the south of the Netherlands. The model caught on being championed by the clergy and the countryside elites. The mission of the farmers' lending banks was an idealistic one, but they always operated using strict business principles. Controversially, a founding principle of Rabobank's cooperative style was to cooperate in the interest of "warding off the Shylock" . The cooperative bank model assured a tight bond between invested capital and the community.


title: Rabobank

text: The bank's traditional headquarters are Utrecht and Eindhoven. In 1898, two cooperative bank conglomerates were formed:


title: Rabobank

text: Raiffeisen-Bank was formed as a cooperative of six local banks, while Boerenleenbank was a cooperative of 22 local banks. These two existed side by side for three-quarters of a century despite their obvious similarities. The reasons for this owed in part to legal disagreements. The most important difference, however, was cultural. The Eindhoven-based Boerenleenbank had a decidedly Catholic signature while the Raiffeisen-Bank had a Protestant background. In the past the Netherlands underwent a process of pillarisation (Dutch: "verzuiling"), which in practice meant that members of different religious congregations and political movements essentially lived side by side, without contact between the two. A consequence of this pillarisation was that many villages hosted not one but two local banks, one each for Catholics and Protestants. The close-knit community banking that resulted helped these banks to better control their risks. Consequently, when the Dutch banking sector was devastated by a financial crisis in the early 1920s, these local banks survived largely unscathed. The religious backgrounds found their way to their organisational structures, as well; Boerenleenbank was highly centralised, while Raiffeisen-Bank promoted local autonomy.


title: Rabobank

text: By 1940, the two organisations cooperated with each other, albeit on a limited scale. Three major developments caused a further tightening of the bonds between the two:


title: Rabobank

text: In 1972, the two organisations merged to form "Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank", or Rabobank for short. The organisation chose Amsterdam to be its statutory headquarters due to its historical neutrality in relation to the founding organisations. From 1980 to 2015, the central organisation was referred to as Rabobank Nederland.


title: Rabobank

text: In 1980, Rabobank expanded its international activities as part of its mission to finance global agriculture. In 1990, it established a joint-venture bank in Indonesia by partnering with a local bank, Bank Duta, to form RabobankDuta. Bank Duta subsequently collapsed in the 1998 Asian financial crisis, and Rabobank bought Duta's share to operate solely as PT Bank Rabobank International Indonesia. In 1994, it purchased Primary Industry Bank of Australia (PIBA), which had operations in Australia and New Zealand, and renamed it Rabobank Australia Limited in 2003. In 1997, it purchased New Zealand–based Wrightson Farmers Finance Limited and renamed it Rabobank New Zealand in 1999. Rabobank became a significant lender to the rural sector in New Zealand with this purchase and used this as a base to expand its lending business further.


title: Rabobank

text: Rabobank purchased Australian company Lend Lease Agro Business in 2003. In 2008, it expanded its operations in Indonesia by buying two retail banks, Bank Haga and Bank Hagakita. The bank has offices in 38 countries. Utrecht-America Holdings, Inc. and Rabobank N.A. operate as subsidiaries of the Rabobank Group in the United States. In 2019, it was announced that Rabobank sold its American retail business to Mechanics Bank, with all Rabobank branches taking the Mechanics name. Rabobank will continue to do business in North America related to Food and Agriculture based-lending under its subsidiary Rabo AgriFinance.


title: Rabobank

text: In 2002, it launched a new internet only savings bank called Rabobank.be. A second online savings banks was launched in 2005 in Ireland under the name of RaboDirect, and then as RaboPlus in New Zealand and two years later in Australia. After a small hiatus new online banks were opened in Poland (2011) and Germany (2012). The advertising campaigns used to promote the savings business in Ireland and New Zealand raised the profile of Rabobank generally in those countries resulting in an increase in not only its savings business but also in its lending businesses. In 2010, Rabobank decided to use the same brand name in Australia and New Zealand for the savings bank and replaced RaboPlus with RaboDirect in these countries. In 2014, Rabobank worked with Vasco, now OneSpan, to create a new online authentication system using QR codes.


title: Rabobank

text: Rabobank completed the acquisition of Mid-State Bank & Trust on May 1, 2007, which allows Rabo to expand its services to the Central Coast region of California, United States. In 2010, it also acquired Pacific State Bank, expanding into the Central Valley of California.


title: Rabobank

text: Right from the start the cooperative banks prospered. They managed to perform the key tasks of a banking organisation, that is, bringing excess capital and capital shortages together. These moneylenders stood close to the farmers and were better in judging the creditworthiness of individual farmers than the city banks. This allowed the banks to offer lower interest rates. The local banks were self-governed by members of the cooperation. They adhered to the principle of non-remunerated management and elected the board and the commissioners from among themselves. Only the cashier received a small salary. This has changed, but even as recently as in late 1950s the local bank office was nothing more than the cashier's living room, he generally performed his administrative duties besides another regular job. Much later, in the 1960s the most local banks moved into new and modern offices that reflected their new-found professionalism. The position cashier was replaced by a local bank director. Since 1998 the local bank director is an appointed professional banker and he presides over a board of directors which is chosen from among the members.


title: Rabobank

text: Local presence and local autonomy were always important but this hasn't stopped a wave of concentration of the local banks. The major rationale behind this was the need to attain economies of scale in the fields of payments, transaction, processing, staff and capital. Increasing customer demand for standardized and widely available products also played a significant part in this development. Currently the motto is:


title: Rabobank

text: Traditionally the bank served mostly farmers and small businesses. Since the introduction of consumer salary accounts in the 1960s the number of retail clients grew exponentially. This has led to Rabobank being a prominent player in the field of savings accounts, checking accounts and mortgages in the Netherlands.


title: Rabobank

text: In June 2012, rating agency Moody's downgraded Rabobank's to Aa2 (previously Aaa), with a negative outlook. Due to a new rating methodology in November 2011 by rating agency Standard & Poor's, the credit status was downgraded two steps from AAA to AA. In November 2014, S&P lowered the rating from AA- to A+ with a negative outlook. Rating agency Fitch rates the credit status of the bank AA-, with a negative outlook.


title: Rabobank

text: As per the new strategy, Rabobank is planning to exit some markets. In September 2014, Rabobank sold Bank BGZ to BNP Paribas for $1.39 billion.


title: Rabobank

text: Unlike most major banks, Rabobank's central organisation was originally a subsidiary of the local branches. However, new banking regulations made a new arrangement necessary. In late 2015, on the recommendation of a specially-created Governance Committee, Rabobank's 106 cooperative banks voted unanimously to merge with Rabobank Nederland. The merger took effect on 1 January 2016. While the 106 Rabobanks still have considerable autonomy, the central organisation is now the parent body.


title: Rabobank

text: A 2013 scandal resulted in a $1 billion fine for unscrupulous trading practices, which included the manipulation of LIBOR currency rates worldwide. Chief Executive Piet Moerland resigned immediately as a result.


title: Rabobank

text: In December 2015, Rabobank announced to cut 9,000 jobs by 2018 (3,000 jobs by the end of 2016) and almost a fifth of its current workforce. The policy was to comply with the tougher Basel IV rulebook.


title: Rabobank

text: The Rabobank Group consists of a network of local banks, Rabobank Nederland and several daughter organisations.


title: Rabobank

text: Previously, the local Rabobanks were the mother organisation of Rabobank Nederland, their central organisation. The local banks were facilitated by Rabobank Nederland to serve their customers, not the other way around as is often the case with traditional banking organisations. Employees of the group did not routinely speak of a headquarters but preferred to speak of Rabobank Nederland, which was their daughter organisation. In 2016, however, the local banks merged with Rabobank Nederland, while retaining significant independence.


title: Rabobank

text: Even before 2016, the central organisation occasionally overruled the autonomy of the local bank organisations. In accordance with Dutch regulations in the field of credit and financial services Rabobank Nederland oversees that the local banks maintain a required level of prudence and professionalism while selling financial products. This has grown to be especially important in view of international standards such as Sarbanes–Oxley Act, Basel II and IFRS. This leads to a rather unusual phenomenon within international business: the mother companies and the much larger daughter are essentially forced to coexist in order to function properly. This has led to a very ambivalent relationship between the two over the years.


title: Rabobank

text: In 2002 this structure was simplified. The "Raad van Beheer" was disbanded. De "Hoofddirectie" received an integral authority over the banking business. It was also renamed to "Raad van Bestuur" or board of directors. They have an added task compared to a traditional board i.e., they are expected to look out for the specific interests of the members (local banks and their certificate holders). The "Raad van Toezicht" was renamed to county commission and now held an independent supervisory role. The chairman of this board also presides over the "Centrale Kringvergadering". The latter is the most distinguishing organ as compared to other financial institutions in the Netherlands and abroad.


title: Rabobank

text: Rabobank is traditionally a farmers' bank and it still holds an 85% to 90% market share in the agrarian sector in the Netherlands. Throughout the years, the company has also started targeting small and medium-sized companies. By the mid 1970s the market share in this sector reached some 30% and currently amounts to approximately 40%. In 1987, an important milestone was reached; the total outstanding loans in sectors other than agriculture exceeded those in the agricultural sector for the first time. By 2005 the agricultural credits amounted to some 8% of total outstanding credit.


title: Rabobank

text: Rabobank also holds some 40% of the total outstanding sums on Dutch savings accounts and they account for approximately 30% of all private consumer mortgages in the Netherlands.


title: Rabobank

text: In the Netherlands, Rabobank is the third-largest retail bank by market share, and second largest by number of current accounts at 30%. ING Group is the largest with 40% of current accounts, followed by Rabobank (30%), ABN AMRO (20%), and others (10%).


title: Rabobank

text: RaboDirect, formerly RaboPlus in some locations is the brand name for online-only services offered by Rabobank. "RaboDirect" operates in Belgium, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Germany offering savings accounts, term deposits and managed funds. In Belgium it is known as Rabobank.be.


title: Rabobank

text: In 2009, RaboDirect ran the marketing campaign that included TV commercials which featured staff confessing truths about themselves, and a microsite called Truthbank where customers could "confess" their own truths.


title: Rabobank

text: RaboDirect was the sponsor of rugby union's Pro12 from the 2011-12 season until 2013–14, it featured teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The deal was announced in June 2011, during which time the league was known as the RaboDirect Pro12.


title: Rabobank

text: On 21 February RaboDirect announced that it would be closing down its Irish operations from 16 May 2018, with the loss of 31 jobs.


title: Rabobank

text: RaboDirect, originally known as RaboPlus, was launched in February 2006 and was at the time only bank in New Zealand whose parent company was rated AAA by Standard & Poor's (the credit rating has since been downgraded and as of October 2015 is A).


title: Rabobank

text: On 23 May 2007, Rabobank opened a RaboPlus Internet bank in Australia. On 20 May 2010, the services were rebranded to RaboDirect. RaboDirect is the major partner of the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby side. By 2011 over $6 billion had been gathered in deposits.


title: Rabobank

text: On 20 June 2012, Rabobank opened a RaboDirect in Germany. Rabobank has had a presence in Germany since 1984. It has operated in the field of corporate finance and has been primarily active in the food and agriculture sector in the country.


title: Rabobank

text: Rabobank operated a direct bank in Poland, but under the Bank BGZ operation and using the name "BGZ Optima". The Polish business including BGZ Optima was subsequently sold to French bank BNP Paribas in December 2013 for around $1.4 billion.


title: Tim Hardin

text: James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including "If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", became hits for other artists.


title: Tim Hardin

text: Hardin grew up in Oregon and joined the Marine Corps. He started his music career in Greenwich Village which led to recording several albums in the mid- to late 1960s, and a performance at the Woodstock Festival. Hardin struggled with drug abuse throughout most of his adult life, and live performances were sometimes erratic. He was planning a comeback when he died in late 1980 from a heroin overdose.


title: Tim Hardin

text: Hardin was born in Eugene, Oregon to parents who both had musical training. His mother, Molly Small Hardin, was an accomplished violinist who performed with the Portland Symphony Orchestra and his father played in jazz bands. He attended South Eugene High School but dropped out at age 18 to join the Marine Corps. Hardin is said to have discovered heroin while posted in Southeast Asia.


title: Tim Hardin

text: After his discharge he moved to New York City in 1961, where he briefly attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was eventually excluded for poor attendance and began to focus on his musical career by performing around Greenwich Village, playing folk and blues numbers. It was during this time that he became friends with "Mama Cass" Elliot, John Sebastian and Fred Neil.


title: Tim Hardin

text: After moving to Boston in 1963 he was discovered by the record producer Erik Jacobsen (later the producer for The Lovin' Spoonful), who arranged a meeting with Columbia Records. In 1964 he moved back to Greenwich Village to record for his contract with Columbia. The resulting recordings were not released and Columbia terminated Hardin's recording contract.


title: Tim Hardin

text: After moving to Los Angeles in 1965, he met actress Susan Yardley Morss (known professionally as Susan Yardley), and moved back to New York with her. He signed to the Verve Forecast label, and produced his first authorized album, "Tim Hardin 1" in 1966 which contained "How Can We Hang On to a Dream", "Reason to Believe" and the ballad "Misty Roses", which received Top 40 radio play.


title: Tim Hardin

text: "Tim Hardin 2" was released in 1967; it contained "If I Were a Carpenter". A British tour was cut short after Hardin contracted pleurisy.


title: Tim Hardin

text: An album entitled "This is Tim Hardin", featuring covers of "House of the Rising Sun", Fred Neil's "Blues on the Ceiling" and Willie Dixon's "Hoochie Coochie Man", among others, appeared in 1967, on the Atco label. The liner notes indicate that the songs were recorded in 1963–1964, well prior to the release of "Tim Hardin 1". In 1968, Verve released "Tim Hardin 3 Live in Concert", a collection of live recordings along with re-makes of previous songs. It was followed by "Tim Hardin 4", another collection of blues-influenced tracks believed to date from the same period as "This is Tim Hardin". In September 1968 he and Van Morrison shared a bill at the Cafe Au Go Go, at which each performed an acoustic set.


title: Tim Hardin

text: In 1969, Hardin again signed with Columbia and had one of his few commercial successes, as a non-LP single of Bobby Darin's "Simple Song of Freedom" reached the US Top 50. Hardin did not tour in support of this single—his heroin use and stage fright made his live performances erratic.


title: Tim Hardin

text: Also in 1969 he appeared at the Woodstock Festival, where he sang "If I Were a Carpenter" solo and played a set of his music while backed by a full band. None of his performances were included in the documentary film or the . His performance of "If I Were a Carpenter" was included on the 1994 box-set "".


title: Tim Hardin

text: During the following years Hardin moved between Britain and the U.S. In 1969 he arrived in England to take a programme for heroin addiction but this was unsuccessful and he became addicted to barbiturates which were used during the withdrawal stage from heroin. His heroin addiction had taken control of his life by the time his last album, "Nine", was released on GM Records in the UK in 1973 (the album did not see a U.S. release until it appeared on Antilles Records in 1976). He sold the writers' rights to his songs, but accounts of how this transpired differ.


title: Tim Hardin

text: In late November 1975, Hardin performed as guest lead vocalist with the German experimental rock band Can, for two UK concerts at Hatfield Polytechnic in Hertfordshire and London's Drury Lane Theatre. According to author Rob Young, in the book "", a huge argument between Hardin and Can occurred after the London concert, during which Hardin threw a television set through a car's windshield.


title: Tim Hardin

text: In early 1980, Hardin returned to the US after several years in Britain, and wrote ten new songs and started recording new material as a comeback. On December 29, he was found on the floor of his Hollywood apartment by longtime friend Ron Daniels. The police said there was no evidence of foul play and it appeared initially that the cause of death was a heart attack. It was later confirmed by the Los Angeles coroner's office that Hardin had died of an accidental heroin overdose. His remains were buried in Twin Oaks Cemetery in Turner, Oregon. The new songs were included on the posthumous "Unforgiven" and the compilation "The Shock of Grace".


title: Tim Hardin

text: Hardin wrote the Top 40 hit "If I Were a Carpenter," covered by, among others, Bobby Darin, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, The Four Tops, Robert Plant, Small Faces, Johnny Rivers, Bert Jansch, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Dolly Parton and Joe Nichols. His song "Reason to Believe" has also been covered by many artists, notably Rod Stewart (who had a chart hit with the song), Neil Young, and The Carpenters. The Nice also recorded and performed live a popular version of Hardin's song "How Can We Hang On to a Dream" based on a piano arrangement by Keith Emerson. Morrissey covered "Lenny's Tune" on his 2019 album California Son.


title: Tim Hardin

text: In 2005 the indie rock band Okkervil River released a concept studio album entitled "Black Sheep Boy", said to be based on Hardin's life. According to one reviewer, the tribute album is a "collection that should go some way towards rekindling an interest in Hardin's life and work." Will Sheff from Okkervil River said "there is something very disarming about how simple those songs are...a Tim Hardin song never outstays its welcome. It’s very short and pretty: one verse, one chorus, second verse, the song is over and he’s out of there. It’s like a tiny, perfectly cut gem."