title: Kumyks

text: In the 1850s, the Kumyk princes of the Kumyk district of the Terek region voluntarily gave up half of their lands in favor of the Kumyk people, however, documents confirming the relevant rights were issued only to the princes and uzdens, and the rights of the rest of the population were not documented. Local authorities, using various pretexts, moved newcomers to Kumyk lands. This policy of neglecting the right of the Kumyk population was recorded as continuing in 1907.


title: Kumyks

text: When the Caucasian War ended on the 30th of December 1869, the Kumyk district of the Terek oblast (Northern Kumykia) was dissolved and renamed as Khasavyurt okrug.


title: Kumyks

text: According to The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, issued at the turn of the 19 - 20th centuries, there were 32,087 thousand Kumyks in Dagestan (which at that tim did not comprised the Northern Kumykia). According to an 1891 survey , 108,800 Kumyks lived in the Dagestan and Terek oblasts of the Russian Empire.


title: Kumyks

text: Somewhat earlier, in 1867 the Tarki Shamkhalate was abolished by the Russian authorities, which might be considered as the end of the Kumyk statehood.


title: Kumyks

text: In mid-July 1916 (late July 1916 ), Kumyk rebels rose up against Russian authorities in Aksay. The cause of the uprising laid in the Kumyk's unwillingness to be conscripted into the Russian Imperial Army. The uprising ended on 24 July (6 August ), when the draft was cancelled.


title: Kumyks

text: During the establishment of the Soviet Union, Kumyk political elite were an active part in the creation of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus. Haydar Bammate was the Minister of Foreign Affairs and one of the ideologists of the state, Prince Rashitkhan Kaplan was the Minister of Internal Affairs, one of the major military leaders was prince Nuh-bek Tarkovskiy, and Zubair Temirhanov was the speaker of the Alliance Council ("Mejlis" - Senate) of the Republic.


title: Kumyks

text: In 1926 the Soviet Population Census stated that there were 94 549 Kumyks in the Russian empire, indicating demographic crisis, compared to the 1891 data.


title: Kumyks

text: In 1795 Russian Empire's estimates give a number of 100 thousand people in the lands of Shamkhal (including other than Kumyks).


title: Kumyks

text: In 1833 rough estimations showed around 88 thousand Kumyks within the areas of influence of the Russian Empire. In 1866, after the end of the Caucasian War, some estimations showed around 78 thousand. In 1886, 1891 and 1897 accordingly — 88, 108, 83 thousand, in 1916 — 98 thousand.


title: Kumyks

text: The Soviet census of 1926 showed 88 thousand. Thus, there are no indications of any growth almost in a century, due to wars, emigration from Russian-conquered territories and disease.


title: Kumyks

text: Due to the continuous resettlement policies by the Russian Empire, then the Soviet government, and continuing today in the modern Republic of Dagestan of the Russian Federation, during the 19th through 21st century the native territories of Kumyks have been dramatically reduced; Kumyks became a minority in their own lands.


title: Kumyks

text: By the decree of Stalin's government, on the 12 of April 1944 the Kumyk population of historical Kumyk capital Tarki and adjacent villages were entirely deported to the Central Asian SSRs (Chechens, Karachays, Balkars and Crimean Tatars also were deported). The reason was stated as "freeing the area for the agricultural needs" of mountain peoples being resettled in the region. The deportation, despite the historical record in Russian law, is still not acknowledged by the Russian government. As a result of this event, the local population lost for years their ancient capital of Tarki, which led to the permanent destruction of the most of the Kumyk cultural heritage.


title: Kumyks

text: In 1925 Russian scholar Nikolay Trubetskoy expressed opinions, which may explain the given policy of Russia with regard to Kumyks:Kumyk is the "international" language of almost the entire North Caucasus (from the Caspian Sea to Kabarda inclusive), Azerbaijani dominates in most of the Transcaucasia (except the Black Sea coast) and, in addition, in Turkish Armenia, Kurdistan and Northern Persia. Both of these languages are Turkic. It must be held in mind that with the intensification of economic life, the use of "international" languages acquires such importance that it displaces native languages: many auls of the southern districts of Dagestan have already become completely "Azerbaijanified". It is hardly in Russia's interests to allow such a Turkification of Dagestan. After all, if the whole of Dagestan becomes Turkic, then there will be a continuous mass of Turks from Kazan to Anatolia and Northern Persia, which will create the most favorable conditions for the development of Pan-Turan ideas with a separatist, Russophobic bias. Dagestan should be used as a natural barrier to the Turkification of this part of Eurasia.Communist leader of Dagestan, who conducted the deportation of Kumyks, reasoned non-ethnical administrative bordering of Dagestan in this way:“Firstly, it [meaning splitting Dagestan by non-ethnic principle] was necessary to do this for economic reasons. If it were decided to grant national autonomy to at least the main peoples of Dagestan (Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Lezgins, Laks, Tabasarans), then the main wealth of Dagestan (arable land, pastures) would go to the Kumyks, because they were located on their territory... Secondly, political and ethnic considerations were taken into account. So, the Avars in the entire history of their existence did not have a unified state entity... "


title: Kumyks

text: Kumyks speak the Kumyk language, which is a part of the Kipchak-Cuman subfamily of the Kipchak family of the Turkic languages. It is a direct descendant of the Khazar languages and in addition contains words from the Bulghar and Oghuz substratum.


title: Kumyks

text: Nikolay Baskakov, based on a famous 12th century scripture named Codex Cimanicus, included modern Kumyk, Karachai-Balkar, Crimean Tatar, Karaim, and the language of Mamluk Kipchaks in the Cuman-Kipchak languages. Alexander Samoylovich also considered Cuman-Kipchak close to Kumyk and Karachai-Balkar.


title: Kumyks

text: Kumyk had been a lingua-franca of a great part of the Northern Caucasus, from Dagestan to Kabarda, until the 1930s.


title: Kumyks

text: In 1848, a professor of the "Caucasian Tatars" (Kumyks) Timofey Makarov published a grammar of Kumyk, the first ever grammar written in Russian for a language spoken in the North Caucasus.


title: Kumyks

text: Kumyk was an official language of communication between North-Eastern Caucasian nations and Russian administration.


title: Kumyks

text: Amongst the dialects of the Kumyk there are Kaitag, Terek (Güçük-yurt and Braguny), Buynaksk (Temir-Khan-Shura) and Xasavyurt. The latter two became basis for the literary language.


title: Kumyks

text: Kumyk is the oldest script literary language of Dagestan. During the 20th century, the writing system of the language was changed twice: during Soviet times in 1929 traditional Arabic script (called ajam) was substituted by the Latin script, and then in 1938 by Cyrillic script.


title: Kumyks

text: More than 90% of Kumyks in Russia, according to the 2010 census, also speak Russian, and those in Turkey and the Levant (Sham) speak Turkish and Arabic.


title: Kumyks

text: German poet Paul Fleming, travelling together with the Holstein embassy through Kumyk lands in 1633 and 1636, had dedicated to Kumykia and its towns a few verses.


title: Kumyks

text: The Kumyk language was a subject of studies for Russian classical authors such as Leo Tolstoy and Mikhail Lermontov, both of whom served with the Imperial Russian Army in the Caucasus. The language is present in such works of Tolstoy as "The Raid", Cossacks, Hadji Murat, and Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Time".


title: Kumyks

text: Aelxander Bestuzhev-Marlinsky also featured the Kumyk language and Kumykia in his works "Molla-nur" and "Ammalat-bek", and described in some details Russian military raids on Kumyk settlements in his ""Letters from Dagestan"".


title: Kumyks

text: Alexander Dumas also described some areas of Kumykia and the time when he was a guest of a Kumyk prince Ali Qazanalp.


title: Chiappa Rhino

text: The Chiappa Rhino is a revolver produced by Italian manufacturer Chiappa Firearms. The Rhino's frame is CNC-machined from a solid block of high-tensile aluminium alloy and all internal parts are CNC-machined from steel.


title: Chiappa Rhino

text: Chambered for the .357 Magnum/.38 Special, 9mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, or 9×21mm cartridges, its most distinctive feature is that the barrel is on a much lower bore axis, as the Rhino fires from the lowermost chamber of the cylinder rather than from the topmost chamber in conventional revolvers.


title: Chiappa Rhino

text: Designed by Emilio Ghisoni and Antonio Cudazzo, the Rhino differs from traditional revolvers in a number of ways. Stylistically it resembles Ghisoni's earlier design, the Mateba Autorevolver, and was his last design before his death in 2008.


title: Chiappa Rhino

text: In order to reduce weight, the frame of the Rhino is made of Ergal (an aluminium alloy), and the receiver is CNC-machined from a solid block of high-tensile aluminium. Virtually all components are CNC-machined as well; this manufacturing process yields a very precise fit with minimal tolerances. For models other than the 20D, the trigger may be used in either single-action or double-action mode. Only the 2-inch 20D model comes in double-action only.


title: Chiappa Rhino

text: The external cocking lever is not actually a hammer as on most revolvers. Instead, it is merely a linkage handle used to cock an internal hammer, and immediately falls back into place after cocking is complete, minimizing the number of externally moving parts and reciprocating mass. An additional feature of this gun is, unlike most revolvers, it comes with an accessory rail (except for the 2 inch and 3 inch models), on which tactical lights and laser sights can be mounted. The aluminium-based revolver is available in anodized finishes resembling traditional bluing, as well as a version resembling electroless nickel finish referred as the "White Rhino". A gold-colored version was displayed at the 2014 SHOT Show.


title: Chiappa Rhino

text: Firing from the lowermost chamber in the cylinder as opposed to the uppermost is intended to reduce muzzle flip by aligning the recoil more into the shooter's wrist, rather than above it. A downside of this design is that it increases the vertical distance between the sight line and the bore axis (sight height), meaning the gun will have a greater parallax error when aiming at close range. Another distinctive feature is that the cross-section of its cylinder is hexagonal (though with rounded corners) instead of circular; this is intended to narrow the weapon's profile in concealed carry applications.


title: Chiappa Rhino

text: Chiappa manufactures the Rhino in a number of sizes, barrel lengths, finishes, and calibers; including a frame that is made from polymer instead of aluminum.


title: Justin Narayan

text: Justin Narayan is an Australian youth pastor and television cook of Fijian-Indian heritage. He was declared as the winner of "MasterChef Australia 2021".


title: Justin Narayan

text: Narayan intends to spend his $250,000 win on furthering his education. His ambitions include opening a food truck or restaurant that serves the Indian flavors he grew up with, and a portion of his profits going towards helping to feed and educate children located in the slums of India.


title: Justin Narayan

text: Narayan was born in Sydney to a family with Fijian and Indian heritage. At the age of 13 he started to cook and claims that most of his dishes are inspired by his family.


title: Justin Narayan

text: Narayan was a youth pastor before joining "MasterChef Australia". He worked for the organisation Try Alpha.


title: Justin Narayan

text: He also dabbled in an acting role of a Mr Singh in the short movie "Rash Decision" in 2018 along with the lead cast Sarah Thamin.


title: Justin Narayan

text: Narayan qualified to be one of the top 24 contestants "MasterChef Australia 2021", an Australian reality television program. He was declared the competition winner over runners-up Pete Campbell and Kishwar Chowdhury on 13 July 2021, winning $250,000 as prize money. Narayan demonstrated on the show a style of cooking that combined Indian and international cuisines, such as poached fish with curry broth, Indian chicken tacos, and Indian chicken curry.


title: Justin Narayan

text: During the final challenge of the program, Peter Gilmore challenged the top three contestants Narayan, Campbell, and Chowdhury to recreate two of his own dishes (one savoury and the other a dessert) in 5 hours to gain 40 points for each of the dishes. Campbell struggled to get together all his elements throughout the cooking session resulting a runny custard for the savoury dish and the dessert was not complete in the plate due to a hasty assemble. On the other hand, Chowdhury's dishes were mostly impressive, however the texture of her sauce for the savoury dish lacked balance. While Narayan's squid entrée garnered positive feedback, but his dessert was slightly under-baked even though he had all the ingredients fin place for the dessert. Narayan outperformed Campbell and Chowdhury, scoring 40 points for the savoury dish and 35 points for the dessert. This resulted in an overall score of 114 points for Chowdhury, 124 points for Campbell, and a total score of 125 for Narayan, who won the program by one point.


title: Justin Narayan

text: After prison guard Sashi Cheliah, Narayan is the second competitor of Indian descent to win the "MasterChef Australia"'s first prize.


title: Justin Narayan

text: Narayan intends in running his own restaurant or food truck, and with that he also plans to cook and work for the Mumbai-based NGO Vision Rescue. Vision Rescue was started in "Mumbai" in 2004 by Biju Thampy, a preacher, and a motivational speaker, to offer Vada Pav to children living near the Mahim Junction Railway Station. Since then, the NGO has expanded its services to include drug rehabilitation counselling for children, providing healthcare, running a slum school and promotion of kids in sports. They also started to offer a transition house for women abused from human trafficking.


title: Justin Narayan

text: He is currently creating digital content for his social media page. He comes up with new recipes every week and shares them with his followers.


title: Murderdolls

text: Murderdolls was an American horror punk and heavy metal band founded during 2002 in Hollywood, California. The band line-up consisted of the late Joey Jordison, Wednesday 13 , Acey Slade, Eric Griffin, Tripp Eisen and the late Ben Graves.


title: Murderdolls

text: The band released two albums, the first in the form of "Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls" which was released in 2002. The band had limited initial success in the United States, though their album and singles charted well in the United Kingdom and around the same time they picked up a strong following in Japan. Their second album, "Women and Children Last", was released August 31, 2010. Wednesday 13 confirmed the band's split in an interview in July 2013.


title: Murderdolls

text: The sound of the band is made up of their shared influences, which musically are punk rock and as well as from some of the 1970s hard rock acts (such as Kiss and Alice Cooper). The band also share a large interest in horror movies, from which they take most of their images and references.


title: Murderdolls

text: Lyrically, the group most often present themselves in a "tongue-in-cheek" manner, covering topics of necrophilia, grave robbing, cross-dressing, amongst other things.


title: Murderdolls

text: Some consider the Murderdolls history to go back as far as 1994 to a Des Moines, Iowa based band Joey Jordison played in, named The Rejects, which was fronted by vocalist Dizzy Draztik. The sound of the band was somewhat comparable to what the Murderdolls would later develop, minus the horror themed lyrics.


title: Murderdolls

text: The Rejects split up as Jordison's "other band" Slipknot were signed to a major label. During the 1999 Ozzfest tour, Jordison met Tripp Eisen and asked him if he was interested in a project he had in mind; the reforming of the Rejects with Draztik. Eisen agreed to join the project and a friend of his from the band Dope and previously the Genitorturers, Racci Shay played drums with them. Also a bassist named Ian, who had played in New York based band the Vampire Love Dolls (fronted by Acey Slade who was known as J at the time), played with them live.


title: Murderdolls

text: Dizzy Draztik introduced Joey Jordison to the music of the Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13, a horror punk band from Charlotte, North Carolina, fronted by vocalist Wednesday 13. Draztik persuaded the band to invite the Drag Queens frontman to play with the Rejects. The pair had previously considered bringing Wednesday 13 into the band before Eisen joined. Wednesday joined them in November 2001, where he was brought into the Rejects as a bassist. Tripp Eisen has claimed that he suggested that his friend Acey Slade was brought into the band around this time, but was turned down.


title: Murderdolls

text: Soon, Wednesday 13 was moved to the frontman position after Dizzy left the band to take care of his ailing mother. The band changed their name to the Murderdolls and would soon adopt a horror themed approach. In fact, in terms of material used Wednesday 13 became the driving force for it. Most of the tracks on the Murderdolls debut album were covers from his previous band Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13. These covers which would later introduce a whole new audience to the past music of Wednesday 13.


title: Murderdolls

text: Wednesday 13, Jordison and Eisen went into the recording studio to record a demo consisting on an albums worth of material. This demo ended up becoming the band's first album. Because of the association of Eisen and Jordison's other bands, was to be released on Roadrunner Records. Primarily the recording features Wednesday 13 and Joey Jordison playing all of the instruments and vocals, however Eisen recorded most of the guitar solos on it.


title: Murderdolls

text: Around this time in late March 2002, Ben Graves and Eric Griffin, two musicians native of Boston, Massachusetts but were living in Hollywood, California at the time joined the Murderdolls. They were brought in after Eisen showed Jordison a video of himself jamming with the pair, they decided the duo would be right for the band. And although they would feature on the debut album artwork, they did not actually play on the album itself. The band played their first show together as the Murderdolls on July 30, 2002, at San Diego's Epicenter club.


title: Murderdolls

text: An EP was released in early 2002 named "Right to Remain Violent" and featured some tracks from the forthcoming album. The full-length album soon followed, titled "Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls". The initial release featured fifteen tracks; twelve in total had previously been recorded by Wednesday 13 with Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 and one from his earlier band Maniac Spider Trash. 13 did however write all of the aforementioned tracks himself.


title: Murderdolls

text: The song "Welcome to the Strange" was featured on the soundtrack for the movie "Freddy vs. Jason". This track was later available as a bonus track on an expanded release of the debut album along with the single White Wedding; a Billy Idol cover.


title: Murderdolls

text: Upon its release the Murderdolls album was promoted to the public as the "other band" of Joey Jordison, the drummer of Slipknot, or a "collaboration" between Jordison and Tripp Eisen. At the time Wednesday 13's importance as songwriter wasn't known by the public. The lead single from the album was titled "Dead in Hollywood", the promotional video featured a guest appearance by Marilyn Manson, who had previously become friends with Jordison and was returning the favour of him earlier appearing in the video for "Tainted Love".


title: Murderdolls

text: In July 2002 Eisen announced he was leaving the band and returning to his main band Static-X as they were due to record a new album at the time. Eisen's former Dope bandmate Acey Slade was brought in to replace him on guitar.


title: Murderdolls

text: The first tour dates of the "Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls World Tour" took the band through parts of the United States including; Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago and Jordison's native Iowa. Their first major date was at the Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo, Japan during August 18, 2002, two days before their debut album was released. This helped them gain a fan base in Japan.


title: Murderdolls

text: Following this they played some dates in Europe, including a tour of the United Kingdom with AntiProduct (the lead singer of which, Alex Kane, replaced Griffin on Bass, when he had to return home during the tour) and Ireland.


title: Murderdolls

text: Their restless touring continued throughout 2002 into 2003, where they played in several major festivals; first, they played at the Australian festival Big Day Out, going on after Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters headlined the event. They were received favorably and one reviewer commented on the band's performance as a "mangled, choked and psychotic version of the Sex Pistols." The other major festival dates during this time were Download Festival and Rock am Ring, Iron Maiden headlined both of the festivals.


title: Murderdolls

text: Together, the band recorded a cover version of Billy Idol's "White Wedding". A promotional video was recorded for it, in which they mocked popstar singing contests such as the Idol series. It was released as a single in the United Kingdom and they even performed it on the UK chart show "Top of the Pops".


title: Murderdolls

text: Mid 2003 The Murderdolls co-headlined a tour of England with fellow Roadrunner Records band, Stone Sour, which contained two of Jordison's fellow members of Slipknot; Corey Taylor and James Root.


title: Murderdolls

text: Murderdolls toured at the end of 2003 in support of the single and the re-release of their debut, which included their Billy Idol cover as well as five other bonus tracks and b-sides: "Let's Fuck'", "I Take Drugs", "Crash Crash", "Welcome to the Strange" and "I Love to Say Fuck". The latter two had previously been recorded by Wednesday 13 with the Frankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13. The tour went through many European countries including Spain, Italy, Croatia, and Scandinavian countries before ending with a four date tour of the UK supported by English psychobilly band Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster.


title: Murderdolls

text: Murderdolls played their last show on January 17, 2004, in Corona, California. After this they went on an indefinite hiatus with Jordison returning to Slipknot. Since the hiatus begun, both Wednesday 13 and Jordison maintained that the band had not split up for good, and that they would return to record a second album together in the future. Additionally, in a 2009 interview, Slade revealed that he would have been happy to reform the Murderdolls by now, but it always proves impossible due to other commitments of the band members.


title: Murderdolls

text: In February 2010, whilst embarking on a solo tour in Australia, Wednesday 13 spoke with "Drum Media" and told them he was tossing up whether to record another solo album or record another Murderdolls album. He stated that the idea was still in talks, but would be his number one priority if the opportunity arose.


title: Murderdolls

text: In March 2010, Jordison officially revealed to "Kerrang!" magazine that Murderdolls had officially reunited with him and Wednesday working with producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris. Jordison said about the reunion, "It's been an ongoing conversation between Wednesday and I from 2006 until now. We were bored with everything out there, and thought we had something to piss people off and shake things up. Everything is such a product or a fucking formula these days... Fuck formula! Fuck the norm!"


title: Murderdolls

text: It was revealed on the band's official website that the band would feature a new line-up without Slade, Griffin or Graves. Drummer Racci Shay joined the band alongside guitarist Roman Surman and bassist Jack Tankersley.


title: Murderdolls

text: Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars recorded a guest appearance on the new album, whilst he was recording material for his debut solo album in the same space. On April 15, the band confirmed that they had finished recording their upcoming album "Women and Children Last". Joey Jordison has said that he considers "Women and Children Last" as really the first true Murderdolls album.


title: Murderdolls

text: The band was expected to embark on a tour of North America, but the idea was scrapped after Jordison began touring with Rob Zombie on the Hellbilly Deluxe 2 World Tour and after the untimely death of his Slipknot bandmate Paul Gray. This led to the band performing only two shows in California in mid-June to promote their new album. The first show was captured on video and was released on DVD for the special edition of the album. Jordison resumed touring with Zombie in early July.


title: Murderdolls

text: For "Women and Children Last", Jordison and Wednesday 13 confessed to VerdamMnis Magazine that they consider this new release to be their very first album, as this is the first time they "sat down together to write songs and the production is a far better than from "Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls". They also revealed to the magazine that the CD was recorded in a mansion upon the Hollywood Hills, which encouraged them "to create their own sound with no influence from the outside world", as they were secluded.


title: Murderdolls

text: The band promoted the album on the Women & Children Last World Tour, on which they supported Guns N' Roses on a handful of European dates, performed on the main stage at the UK edition of the Ozzfest, supported Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper on the "Halloween Hootenanny Tour" (Jordison performed double duty with Zombie and the Murderdolls), and performed on Fuel TV's "The Daily Habit". The band was expected to embark upon a headlining tour of North America in December, followed by a tour of the United Kingdom in January, before returning to Australia for the first time in 8 years to co-headline the Soundwave Festival.


title: Murderdolls

text: The band announced that, along with their North America tour, "Violent Night, Deadly Night Tour", they were releasing a music video for the song "Nowhere" from "Women and Children Last" on November 29, 2010. However, On November 29, 2010, it was announced that the "Violent Night, Deadly Night Tour" was cancelled, due to family issues.


title: Murderdolls

text: The last time the Murderdolls performed together was April 24, 2011. This final gig marked the last time Joey and 13 spoke. In March 2013, Wednesday 13 announced in an interview that the Murderdolls had split for good in 2011.


title: Murderdolls

text: In 2017, Wednesday 13 stated his interest in resurrecting the Murderdolls, and that Joey may also be interested. Further speculation came in July 2018 when Jordison claimed new material was ready to go and a reunion could happen when the time was right. However, in a February 2019 interview, Wednesday 13 stated that no progress on a reunion had occurred and that Joey and he were still friends.


title: Murderdolls

text: On May 9, 2018, former drummer Ben "The Ghoul" Graves died of cancer at the age of 45. Wednesday 13, along with former members Eric Griffin and Acey Slade performed with each other for the first time in 14 years to pay tribute to their late drummer.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: David Brent: Life on the Road (stylized onscreen simply as Life on the Road) is a 2016 British mockumentary comedy film written, directed, and produced by Ricky Gervais and released by Entertainment One. The film stars Gervais as David Brent, a character he played in the BBC television comedy series "The Office", who has a film crew that shadows him as he travels up and down the country living his dream of being a rock star. Gervais said, "This film delves much more into his private life than "The Office" ever did and we really get to peel back the layers of this extraordinary, ordinary man." He has emphasised that it is "not an "Office" film".


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Fifteen years after his appearance in the BBC2 "documentary" series "The Office", David Brent is a sales rep for bathroom supply firm Lavichem. His colleagues include his nemesis, Jezza, who cannot stand Brent or his jokes; however, he gets a more sympathetic response from colleague Pauline and receptionist Karen, and shares the same sense of humour as fellow sales rep Nigel.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Desperate to resume his music career and sign a record deal, Brent takes a month of unpaid leave and uses money from his pension to pay his fellow band members (Foregone Conclusion), his rapper friend Dom, Dan the sound engineer (whom he boldly offers double what he earns at the studio), a PR consultant, and many other costs, to arrange a tour of venues around Berkshire.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: As the tour wears on, the band and crew refuse to socialise with Brent (unless he pays them to do so), and even make him drive behind the tour bus claiming there is no room for him. When Brent finally manages to convince a record company rep to attend a show, they are more interested in Dom's rapping than Brent's music. As the costs of the tour spiral out of control, sound engineer Dan comforts a dejected Brent, informing him that he does not need to pay people to like him, and to stop wasting his pension money. The band plays one final show, and then genuinely join Brent for a drink.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Brent returns to Lavichem to the delight of Pauline, Karen and Nigel, while Dom achieves a solo record deal and the rest of the band join up with Peter Andre. Pauline asks him to take her out for a coffee and she takes his hand as they head out.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Having lost much of his status since "The Office", David Brent is now the victim of workplace bullying from colleagues and unlike in "The Office" where Brent largely enjoys his working life and the status it gives him, he is openly unhappy in his job. However, as Henry Barnes writes, "All of this relies on the audience liking, or even loving, David Brent as much as they once did, on giving him as many chances as Gervais has."


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Andy Burrows, Stuart Wilkinson, Steve Clarke, and Michael Clarke portray the band Foregone Conclusion, while Peter Andre appears as himself.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Gervais announced that he would release the film's soundtrack album under Brent's recording label Juxtaposition Records. He finished writing the songs for the film in November 2014.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Chris Martin of Coldplay, who guest starred in "Extras" with Gervais, recorded music for the soundtrack together with him. Andy Burrows plays the drummer for Foregone Conclusion, and wrote some original songs with Gervais. They both have written several original songs for the film, including "Please Don't Make Fun of the Disableds" and "Native American".


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: On 20 October 2015, Gervais published an exclusive photo of Brent on the set of his music video shoot for his song "Lady Gypsy". The soundtrack album was released together with the film.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: In May 2016, Gervais announced that Brent would be releasing a single in July ahead of the film release, and on 8 July 2016, Gervais released Brent's single "Lady Gypsy".


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: "The David Brent Songbook" was released by Blink Publishing on 11 August 2016 eight days before the premiere of "Life on the Road". Included are introductions by the character, exclusive images and the tracks arranged for piano, voice and guitar. Gervais said: "This book is a dream come true for Brent...Even though this is clearly a humour book, the sheet music is real and the songs are insanely catchy and easy to play. Go and get the guitar." Gervais revealed that the album has 15 tracks, with the vinyl edition containing 2 LPs.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: The film was first revealed in August 2013. Gervais said that he was excited to show the world what David Brent is up to now. Stephen Merchant, co-creator of "The Office", was not involved in the film's production.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Principal photography began in November 2015, with Gervais directing as well as starring. Filming ran through 18 December 2015, and was shot in locations in London and Slough.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: Entertainment One and BBC Films co-financed the film. Entertainment One distributed the film in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Open Road Films was set to distribute the film in the United States; however, Netflix later acquired distribution rights to the film in all territories excluding the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.


title: David Brent: Life on the Road

text: On 15 March 2016 Gervais released the first posters of the film, both featuring Gervais as Brent. The film received its first official release on 19 August 2016 in the United Kingdom. On 7 April 2016, Gervais released the first teaser trailer of the movie. It showed Brent in his office interacting with his co-workers.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with more than 1,000,000 visitors each year. Incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007, it was previously a city (urban Skagway located at ) in the Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon Census Area (now the Hoonah–Angoon Census Area, Alaska). The most populated community is the census-designated place of Skagway.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The port of Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships, and the tourist trade is a big part of the business of Skagway. The White Pass and Yukon Route narrow gauge railroad, part of the area's mining past, is now in operation purely for the tourist trade and runs throughout the summer months. Skagway is also part of the setting for Jack London's book "The Call of the Wild", Will Hobbs's book "Jason's Gold", and for Joe Haldeman's novel, "Guardian". The John Wayne film "North to Alaska" (1960) was filmed nearby.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The name "Skagway" (historically also spelled Skaguay) is derived from "sha-ka-ԍéi", a Tlingit idiom which figuratively refers to rough seas in the Taiya Inlet, which are caused by strong north winds. ("See", "Etymology and the Mythical Stone Woman", below.)


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: "Skagway" was derived from "sha-ka-ԍéi", a Tlingit idiom which figuratively refers to "rough seas in the Taiya Inlet, that are caused by strong north winds". Literally, "sha-ka-ԍéi" is a gerund (verbal noun) which means "pretty woman". The gerund was derived from the Tlingit finite verb theme "-sha-ka-li-ԍéi", which means, in the case of a woman, "to be pretty".


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The story behind the name is that "Sha-ka-ԍéi" or "Skagway" [“Pretty Woman”] was the nickname of Kanagoo, a mythical woman who transformed herself into stone at Skagway bay and who (according to the story) now causes the strong, channeled winds which blow toward Haines, Alaska. The rough seas caused by these winds have therefore been referred to by the use of Kanagoo's nickname, "Sha-ka-ԍéi" or "Skagway".


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The Kanagoo stone formation is now known as Face Mountain, which is seen from Skagway bay. The Tlingit name for Face Mountain is "Kanagoo Yahaayí" [Kanagoo's Image/Soul].


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: One prominent resident of early Skagway was William "Billy" Moore, a former steamboat captain. As a member of an 1887 boundary survey expedition, he had made the first recorded investigation of the pass over the Coast Mountains, which later became known as White Pass. He believed that gold lay in the Klondike because it had been found in similar mountain ranges in South America, Mexico, California, and British Columbia. In 1887, he and his son, J. Bernard "Ben" Moore, claimed a 160-acre (650,000 m) homestead at the mouth of the Skagway River in Alaska. Moore settled in this area because he believed it provided the most direct route to the potential goldfields. They built a log cabin, a sawmill, and a wharf in anticipation of future gold prospectors passing through.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The boundary between Canada and the United States along the Alaska Panhandle was only vaguely defined then (see Alaska boundary dispute). There were overlapping land claims from the United States' purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867 and British claims along the coast. Canada requested a survey after British Columbia united with it in 1871, but the idea was rejected by the United States as being too costly, given the area's remoteness, sparse settlement, and limited economic or strategic interest.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The Klondike gold rush changed everything. In 1896, gold was found in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon Territory. On July 29, 1897, the steamer "Queen" docked at Moore's wharf with the first boat load of prospectors. More ships brought thousands of hopeful miners into the new town and prepared for the 500-mile journey to the gold fields in Canada. Moore was overrun by lot jumping prospectors and had his land stolen from him and sold to others.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The population of the general area increased enormously and reached 30,000, composed largely of American prospectors. Some realized how difficult the trek ahead would be en route to the gold fields, and chose to stay behind to supply goods and services to miners. Within weeks, stores, saloons, and offices lined the muddy streets of Skagway. The population was estimated at 8,000 residents during the spring of 1898 with approximately 1,000 prospective miners passing through town each week. By June 1898, with a population between 8,000 and 10,000, Skagway was the largest city in Alaska.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Due to the sudden influx of visitors to Skagway, some town residents began offering miners transportation services to aid them in their journeys to the Yukon, often at highly inflated rates. A group of miners upset with the treatment organized a town council to help protect their interests. But as the members of the council moved north to try their own hands at mining, control of the town reverted to the more unscrupulous, most notably Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Between 1897 and 1898, Skagway was a lawless town, described by one member of the North-West Mounted Police as "little better than a hell on earth." Fights, prostitutes and liquor were ever-present on Skagway's streets, and con man "Soapy" Smith, who had risen to considerable power, did little to stop it. Smith was a sophisticated swindler who liked to think of himself as a kind and generous benefactor to the needy. He was gracious to some, giving money to widows and halting lynchings, while simultaneously operating a ring of thieves who swindled prospectors with cards, dice, and the shell game. His telegraph office charged five dollars to send a message anywhere in the world. Consequently, unknowing prospectors sent news to their families back home without realizing there was no telegraph service to or from Skagway until 1901. Smith also controlled a comprehensive spy network, a private militia called the Skaguay Military Company, the town newspaper, the Deputy U.S. Marshal's office and an array of thieves and con-men who roamed about the town. Smith was shot and killed by Frank Reid and Jesse Murphy on July 8, 1898, in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf. Smith managed to return fire — some accounts claim the two men fired their weapons simultaneously — and Frank Reid died from his wounds twelve days later. Jesse Murphy is accredited as the man responsible for killing Smith.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Smith and Reid are now interred at the Klondike Gold Rush Cemetery, also known as "Skagway's Boot Hill."


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The prospectors' journey began for many when they climbed the mountains over the White Pass above Skagway and onward across the Canada–US border to Bennett Lake, or one of its neighboring lakes, where they built barges and floated down the Yukon River to the gold fields around Dawson City. Others disembarked at nearby Dyea, northwest of Skagway, and crossed northward on the Chilkoot Pass, an existing Tlingit trade route to reach the lakes. The Dyea route fell out of favor when larger ships began to arrive, as its harbor was too shallow for them except at high tide. Officials in Canada began requiring that each prospector entering Canada on the north side of the White Pass bring with him one ton (909 kg) of supplies, to ensure that he did not starve during the winter. This placed a large burden on the prospectors and the pack animals climbing the steep pass.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: In 1898, a 14-mile, steam-operated aerial tramway was constructed up the Skagway side of the White Pass, easing the burden of those prospectors who could afford the fee to use it. The Chilkoot Trail tramways also began to operate in the Chilkoot Pass above Dyea. In 1896, before the Klondike gold rush had begun, a group of investors saw an opportunity for a railroad over that route. It was not until May 1898 that the White Pass and Yukon Route began laying narrow gauge railroad tracks in Skagway. The railroad depot was constructed between September and December 1898. This destroyed the viability of Dyea, as Skagway had both the deep-water port and the railroad. Construction of McCabe College, the first school in Alaska to offer a college preparatory high school curriculum, began in 1899. The school was completed in 1900.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: By 1899, the stream of gold-seekers had diminished and Skagway's economy began to collapse. By 1900, when the railroad was completed, the gold rush was nearly over. In 1900, Skagway was incorporated as the first city in the Alaska Territory. Much of the history of Skagway was saved by early residents such as Martin Itjen, who ran a tour bus around the historical town. He was responsible for saving and maintaining the gold- rush cemetery from complete loss. He purchased Soapy Smith's saloon (Jeff Smith's Parlor) from going the way of the wrecking ball, and placed many early artifacts of the city's early history inside and opened Skagway's first museum.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: In July 1923, President Warren G. Harding visited Skagway while on his historic tour through Alaska. Harding was the first President of the United States to travel and tour Alaska while in office. The Canol pipeline was extended to Skagway in the 1940s where oil was shipped in by sea and pumped north.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway is located in a narrow glaciated valley at the head of the Taiya Inlet, the north end of the Lynn Canal, which is the most northern fjord on the Inside Passage on the south coast of Alaska.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of , of which is land and (2.5%) is water. It is currently the smallest borough in Alaska, having taken the title away from Bristol Bay Borough at its creation.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway has a humid continental climate (Köppen "Dsb"). It is in the rain shadow of the coastal mountains, and though not as pronounced as the rain shadow in Southcentral Alaska in the valley of the Susitna River, this still allows it to receive only half as much precipitation as Juneau and only a sixth as much as Yakutat. Although winters are too cold for the classification, precipitation patterns resemble a mediterranean climate due to the summer precipitation minimum. The highest temperature recorded in Skagway is in three separate years, most recently in 2019, and the lowest is on February 2, 1947.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway first appeared on the 1900 U.S. Census, having incorporated as a city that same year. It was the 2nd largest city in Alaska, behind fellow Gold Rush boomtown Nome. It reported 3,117 residents, of which 2,845 were White, 113 were Native Americans, 98 were Black and 61 were Asian. It rapidly declined to 872 residents by 1910, falling to the 8th largest city. It reported 802 Whites, 61 Native Americans and 9 Others. It would be 90 years (until 2000) before it would almost reach that population again (862). It fell to 15th largest community overall in 1920. By 1930, it bottomed out at 492 residents, although it rose to 13th largest in the state. In 1940, it fell to 16th. By 1950, 19th. 1960, it tied for 29th place (16th largest incorporated). In 1970, it dropped to 45th (24th largest incorporated). In 1980, it rose to 35th place. In 1990, it fell to 53rd place. In 2000, it was at 60th place overall (29th largest incorporated). In 2007, with the creation of the Skagway Municipality out of Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon, it ceased to be an incorporated city and became a census-designated place (CDP). As of 2010, it is the 71st largest community in Alaska.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 862 people, 401 households, and 214 families residing in the city. The population density was 1.9 people per square mile (0.7/km). There were 502 housing units at an average density of 1.1 per square mile (0.4/km). The racial makeup of the city was 92.3% White, 3.0% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 0.8% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. 2.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: There were 401 households, out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.4% were non-families. 36.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.81.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: In the city, the population was distributed with 20.5% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 34.6% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years old. For every 100 females, there were 109.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 112.7 males.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The median income for a household in the city was $49,375, and the median income for a family was $62,188. Males had a median income of $44,583 versus $30,956 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,700. About 1.0% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: There are visitors to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and White Pass and Chilkoot Trails. Skagway has a historical district of about 100 buildings from the gold rush era. It receives about a million tourists annually, most of whom (about three quarters) come on cruise ships. The White Pass and Yukon Route operates its narrow-gauge train around Skagway during the summer months, primarily for tourists. The WPYR also ships copper ore from the interior.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway is one of three Southeast Alaskan communities that are connected to the road system; Skagway's connection is via the Klondike Highway, completed in 1978. This allows access to the lower 48, Whitehorse, Yukon, northern British Columbia, and the Alaska Highway. This also makes Skagway an important port-of-call for the Alaska Marine Highway — Alaska's ferry system — and serves as the northern terminus of the important and heavily used Lynn Canal corridor. (The other Southeast Alaskan communities with road access are Haines and Hyder.)


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: The White Pass and Yukon Route is a railway that formerly linked Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada to Skagway, the railway's southernmost terminus. Today, trains travel several times a week from May through September from Skagway to the small community of Carcross, approximately 45 miles south/southwest of Whitehorse. There, passengers (mostly tourists) can make connections via bus to Whitehorse.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway is served by its local semimonthly newspaper, "The Skagway News," as well as regional public radio station KHNS, which has its principal studios in nearby Haines but also has studios and programs based in Skagway. Juneau radio station KINY operates a translator in Skagway which serves the entire town.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway and the surrounding goldfields in 1897-8 is the main setting for George Markstein's 1978 novel 'Tara Kane′, which also features fictionalised versions of Jefferson 'Soapy' Smith and his gang, along with photographer Eric A. Hegg (called Ernst Hart in the novel).


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: In the Three Stooges short "In the Sweet Pie and Pie," Skagway receives a humorous mention: "Edam Neckties, with three convenient locations: Skagway, Alaska; Little America; and Pago Pago."


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: In Jack London's short story "The Unexpected," the main characters spend the winter of 1897–98 in "the mushroom outfitting-town of Skaguay" before moving on to stake a gold-mining claim elsewhere.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway and the surrounding region is a campaign available in a modification of the helicopter combat simulator "Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum" (version 1.16.0)


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: In an episode of "Homeland Security USA", the border crossing in Skagway was featured as being the least-used crossing in the United States.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Chief Inspector Fenwick often dryly referred to nearby "big city" "Skagway" when sending his mounty, Dudley Do-Right, to capture the show's evil nemesis, Snidely Whiplash.


title: Skagway, Alaska

text: Skagway is served by Dahl Memorial Clinic, the only primary health clinic in the area. The facility is usually staffed by 3 Advanced Nurse Practitioners and 3 Medical Assistants and is open Monday through Friday year-round with limited Saturday hours during summer. The clinic also operates after hours in emergency situations. The borough is also served 24/7 by local EMS. Individuals in need of dire medical attention are transported by air via helicopter or air ambulance to Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau (an approximately 45 minute flight). Whitehorse General Hospital in Whitehorse, Yukon is the nearest hospital to Skagway that is accessible by road (an approximately 2 hour drive).


title: Speyer

text: Speyer (, older spelling "Speier", French: "Spire," historical English: "Spires"; ) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lies south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, and south-west of Heidelberg. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities. Speyer Cathedral, a number of other churches, and the Altpörtel ("old gate") dominate the Speyer landscape. In the cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings.


title: Speyer

text: The city is famous for the 1529 Protestation at Speyer. One of the ShUM-cities which formed the cultural center of Jewish life in Europe during the Middle Ages, Speyer and its Jewish courtyard was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.


title: Speyer

text: The first known names were "Noviomagus" and "Civitas Nemetum", after the Teutonic tribe, Nemetes, settled in the area. The name "Spira" is first recorded in the 7th century, taken from "villa Spira", a Frankish settlement situated outside of "Civitas Nemetum".


title: Speyer

text: Speyer lies on the Schifferstadt-Wörth railway and offers hourly connections to Mannheim and Karlsruhe.


title: United Nations Office at Geneva

text: The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, ) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG administrative offices are located inside the Palais des Nations complex, which was originally constructed for the League of Nations between 1929 and 1938.


title: United Nations Office at Geneva

text: Besides United Nations administration, the Palais des Nations also hosts the offices for a number of programmes and funds such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).


title: United Nations Office at Geneva

text: The United Nations and its specialized agencies, programmes and funds may have other offices or functions hosted outside the Palais des Nations, normally in office spaces provided by the Swiss Government.


title: United Nations Office at Geneva

text: UN specialised agencies and other UN entities with offices in Geneva hold bi-weekly briefings at the Palais des Nations, organized by the United Nations Information Service at Geneva.


title: United Nations Office at Geneva

text: UNOG produces an annual report where it lists all major events and activities that happened through a year.


title: New Game Plus

text: A New Game Plus, also New Game+ (NG+), is an unlockable video game mode available in some video games that allows the player to start a new game after they finish it at least once, where certain features in NG+ not normally available in a first playthrough are added, or where certain aspects of the finished game affect the newly started game, such as keeping in the new game items or experience gained in the first playthrough. New Game Plus is also known as "replay mode", "remorting", "challenge mode", or "New Game Ex". The genre where they are most prevalent is role-playing video games.


title: New Game Plus

text: The term was coined in the 1995 role-playing video game "Chrono Trigger", but examples can be found in earlier games, such as "", "The Legend of Zelda", "Ghosts 'n Goblins", and "Super Mario Bros.". This play mode is most often found in role-playing video games, where starting a New Game Plus will usually have the player characters start the new game with the statistics and/or equipment with which they ended the last game. Key items that are related to the story are normally removed so they cannot ruin the game's progression, and are given back to the player at the time they are needed; likewise, characters that the player acquires throughout the story will also not appear until their scheduled place and time, but will get the enhanced stats from the previous playthrough.


title: New Game Plus

text: Games with multiple endings, such as "Chrono Trigger", may feature a New Game Plus mode which allows the player to explore alternate endings. Many games increase the difficulty in a New Game Plus mode, such as those in the "Mega Man Battle Network" series and "Borderlands" series. Others use the feature to advance the plot. In "", the player uses the game's Stage Select mechanism, explained in-story as a form of time travel, to avert disaster, while in "", the player defeats three different final bosses, one in each playthrough, to access the true ending.


title: New Game Plus

text: Some New Game Plus variations alter established gameplay. This includes unlocking new characters, such as in ""; new areas, such as in "Parasite Eve", new items; such as in the "Metal Gear" series; new challenges, such as in the ".hack" series, or new weapon and armor upgrades, like in "God of War II"'s Bonus Mode and "God of War (2018)"'s New Game+ mode.


title: New Game Plus

text: Games that connect to online marketplaces may require the player to complete a New Game Plus game to obtain certain achievements, such as the "Calamity Kid" achievement in the game "Bastion". Others may require or be required by additional purchases in the form of downloadable content, such as in "".


title: New Game Plus

text: A slight variation of the New Game Plus is the clear game, also known as a "post-game scenario". The player may continue after the main story is completed, allowing them to see the effects of their choices upon the game world and narrative, and to complete any remaining side quests. "EarthBound" is an early case of the clear game, later used in major franchises such as "The Legend of Zelda", "Fallout", "Grand Theft Auto", "Pokémon", and "Star Ocean".


title: New Game Plus

text: "Final Fantasy XIV" is a MMORPG with an extensive story line called the "main scenario quest" or colloquially the "MSQ." A New Game Plus option was introduced in the "" expansion pack which allows players to replay the main scenario quest in its entirety or specific expansion's stories.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: Urquhart Castle (; ) is a ruined castle that sits beside Loch Ness in the Highlands of Scotland. The castle is on the A82 road, south-west of Inverness and east of the village of Drumnadrochit.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The present ruins date from the 13th to the 16th centuries, though built on the site of an early medieval fortification. Founded in the 13th century, Urquhart played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century. It was subsequently held as a royal castle and was raided on several occasions by the MacDonald Earls of Ross. The castle was granted to the Clan Grant in 1509, though conflict with the MacDonalds continued. Despite a series of further raids the castle was strengthened, only to be largely abandoned by the middle of the 17th century. Urquhart was partially destroyed in 1692 to prevent its use by Jacobite forces, and subsequently decayed. In the 20th century, it was placed in state care as a scheduled monument and opened to the public: it is now one of the most-visited castles in Scotland and received 547,518 visitors in 2019.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The castle, situated on a headland overlooking Loch Ness, is one of the largest in Scotland in area. It was approached from the west and defended by a ditch and drawbridge. The buildings of the castle were laid out around two main enclosures on the shore. The northern enclosure or Nether Bailey includes most of the more intact structures, including the gatehouse, and the five-story Grant Tower at the north end of the castle. The southern enclosure or Upper Bailey, sited on higher ground, comprises the scant remains of earlier buildings.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The name Urquhart derives from the 7th-century form , itself a mix of the Old Irish (point or promontory) and Old Welsh (thicket or wood). Pieces of vitrified stone, subjected to intense heat and characteristic of early medieval fortification, had been discovered at Urquhart from the early 20th century. Speculation that Urquhart may have been the fortress of Bridei son of Maelchon, king of the northern Picts, led Professor Leslie Alcock to undertake excavations in 1983. Adomnán's "Life of Columba" records that St. Columba visited Bridei some time between 562 and 586, though little geographical detail is given. Adomnán also relates that during the visit, Columba converted a Pictish nobleman named Emchath, who was on his deathbed, his son Virolec, and their household, at a place called "Airdchartdan". The excavations, supported by radiocarbon dating, indicated that the rocky knoll at the south-west corner of the castle had been the site of an extensive fort between the 5th and 11th centuries. The findings led Professor Alcock to conclude that Urquhart is most likely to have been the site of Emchath's residence, rather than that of Bridei who is more likely to have been based at Inverness, either at the site of the castle or at Craig Phadrig to the west.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: Some sources state that William the Lion had a royal castle at Urquhart in the 12th century, though Professor Alcock finds no evidence for this. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Meic Uilleim (MacWilliams), descendants of Malcolm III, staged a series of rebellions against David I and his successors. The last of these rebellions was put down in 1229, and to maintain order Alexander II granted Urquhart to his "Hostarius" (usher or door-ward), Thomas de Lundin. On de Lundin's death a few years later it passed to his son Alan Durward. It is considered likely that the original castle was built soon after this time, centred on the motte at the south-west of the site. In 1275, after Alan's death, the king granted Urquhart to John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The first documentary record of Urquhart Castle occurs in 1296 when it was captured by Edward I of England. Edward's invasion marked the beginning of the Wars of Scottish Independence, which would go on intermittently until 1357. Edward appointed Sir William Fitz Warin as constable to hold the castle for the English. In 1297 he was ambushed by Sir Andrew de Moray while returning from Inverness, and Moray subsequently laid siege to the castle, launching an unsuccessful night attack. The English must have been dislodged soon after, since in 1298 Urquhart was again controlled by the Scots. In 1303 Sir Alexander de Forbes failed to hold off another English assault. This time Edward installed as governor Alexander Comyn, brother of John, as the family had sided with the English against Robert Bruce. Following his murder of the Red Comyn in 1306, Bruce completed his defeat of the Comyns when he marched through the Great Glen in 1307, taking the castles of Inverlochy, Urquhart and Inverness. After this time Urquhart became a royal castle, held for the crown by a series of constables.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: Sir Robert Lauder of Quarrelwood was constable of Urquhart Castle in 1329. After fighting at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, where the Scots were defeated, Lauder returned to hold Urquhart against another threatened English invasion. It is recorded as being one of only five castles in Scotland held by the Scots at this time (the others were Dumbarton, Lochleven, Kildrummy and Loch Doon). In 1342, David II spent the summer hunting at Urquhart, the only king to have stayed here.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: Over the next two hundred years, the Great Glen was raided frequently by the MacDonald Lords of the Isles, powerful rulers of a semi-independent kingdom in western Scotland, with a claim to the earldom of Ross. In 1395, Domhnall of Islay seized Urquhart Castle from the crown, and managed to retain it for more than 15 years. In 1411, he marched through the glen to take on the king's supporters at the Battle of Harlaw. Although an indecisive battle, Domhnall subsequently lost the initiative and the crown was soon back in control of Urquhart. In 1437 Domhnall's son Alexander, now Earl of Ross, raided around Glen Urquhart but could not take the castle. Royal funds were granted to shore up the castle's defences. Alexander's son John succeeded his father in 1449, aged 16. In 1452 he too led a raid up the Great Glen, seizing Urquhart, and subsequently obtained a grant of the lands and castle of Urquhart for life. However, in 1462 John made an agreement with Edward IV of England against the Scottish King James III. When this became known to James in 1476, John was stripped of his titles, and Urquhart was turned over to an ally, the Earl of Huntly.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: Huntly brought in Sir Duncan Grant of Freuchie to restore order to the area around Urquhart Castle. His son John Grant of Freuchie (d.1538) was given a five-year lease of the Glen Urquhart estate in 1502. In 1509, Urquhart Castle, along with the estates of Glen Urquhart and Glenmoriston, was granted by James IV to John Grant in perpetuity, on condition that he repair and rebuild the castle. The Grants maintained their ownership of the castle until 1512, although the raids from the west continued. In 1513, following the disaster of Flodden, Sir Donald MacDonald of Lochalsh attempted to gain from the disarray in Scotland by claiming the Lordship of the Isles and occupying Urquhart Castle. Grant regained the castle before 1517, but not before the MacDonalds had driven off 300 cattle and 1,000 sheep, as well as looting the castle of provisions. Grant unsuccessfully attempted to claim damages from MacDonald. James Grant of Freuchie (d.1553) succeeded his father, and in 1544 became involved with Huntly and Clan Fraser in a feud with the Macdonalds of Clanranald, which culminated in the Battle of the Shirts. In retaliation, the MacDonalds and their allies the Camerons attacked and captured Urquhart in 1545. Known as the "Great Raid", this time the MacDonalds succeeded in taking 2,000 cattle, as well as hundreds of other animals, and stripped the castle of its furniture, cannon, and even the gates. Grant regained the castle, and was also awarded Cameron lands as recompense.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The Great Raid proved to be the last raid. In 1527, the historian Hector Boece wrote of the "rewinous wallis" of Urquhart, but by the close of the 16th century Urquhart had been rebuilt by the Grants, now a powerful force in the Highlands. Repairs and remodelling continued as late as 1623, although the castle was no longer a favoured residence. In 1644 a mob of Covenanters (Presbyterian agitators) broke into the castle when Lady Mary Grant was staying, robbing her and turning her out for her adherence to Episcopalianism. An inventory taken in 1647 shows the castle virtually empty. When Oliver Cromwell invaded Scotland in 1650, he disregarded Urquhart in favour of building forts at either end of the Great Glen.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: When James VII was deposed in the Revolution of 1688, Ludovic Grant of Freuchie sided with William of Orange and garrisoned the castle with 200 of his own soldiers. Though lacking weapons they were well-provisioned and, when a force of 500 Jacobites (supporters of the exiled James) laid siege, the garrison was able to hold out until after the defeat of the main Jacobite force at Cromdale in May 1690. When the soldiers finally left they blew up the gatehouse to prevent the reoccupation of the castle by the Jacobites. Large blocks of collapsed masonry are still visible beside the remains of the gatehouse. Parliament ordered £2,000 compensation to be paid to Grant, but no repairs were undertaken. Subsequent plundering of the stonework and other materials for re-use by locals further reduced the ruins, and the Grant Tower partially collapsed following a storm in 1715.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: By the 1770s the castle was roofless and was regarded as a romantic ruin by 19th-century painters and visitors to the Highlands. In 1884 the castle came under the control of Caroline, Dowager Countess of Seafield, widow of the 7th Earl of Seafield, on the death of her son the 8th Earl. On Lady Seafield's death in 1911 her will instructed that Urquhart Castle be entrusted into state care, and in October 1913 responsibility for the castle's upkeep was transferred to the Commissioners of His Majesty's Works and Public Buildings. Historic Environment Scotland (formerly Historic Scotland), the successor to the Office of Works, continues to maintain the castle, which is scheduled monument in recognition of its national significance.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: In 1994 Historic Scotland proposed the construction of a new visitor centre and car park to alleviate the problems of parking on the main A82 road. Strong local opposition led to a public inquiry, which approved the proposals in 1998. The new building is sunk into the embankment below the road, with provision for parking on the roof of the structure. The visitor centre includes a display of the history of the site, including a series of replicas from the medieval period; a cinema; a restaurant; and a shop. The castle is open all year, and can also host wedding ceremonies. In 2018 518,195 people visited Urquhart Castle, making it Historic Scotland's third most visited site after the castles of Edinburgh and Stirling.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: Urquhart Castle is sited on Strone Point, a triangular promontory on the north-western shore of Loch Ness, and commands the route along this side of the Great Glen as well as the entrance to Glen Urquhart. The castle is quite close to water level, though there are low cliffs along the northeast sides of the promontory. There is considerable room for muster on the inland side, where a "castle-toun" of service buildings would originally have stood, as well as gardens and orchards in the 17th century. Beyond this area the ground rises steeply to the north-west, up to the visitor centre and the A82. A dry moat, across at its widest, defends the landward approach, possibly excavated in the early Middle Ages. A stone-built causeway provides access, with a drawbridge formerly crossing the gap at the centre. The castle side of the causeway was formerly walled-in, forming an enclosed space similar to a barbican.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: Urquhart is one of the largest castles in Scotland in area. The walled portion of the castle is shaped roughly like a figure-8 aligned northeast-southwest along the bank of the loch, around , forming two baileys (enclosures): the Nether Bailey to the north, and the Upper Bailey to the south. The curtain walls of both enclosures date largely to the 14th century, though much augmented by later building, particularly to the north where most of the remaining structures are located.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The 16th-century gatehouse is on the inland side of the Nether Bailey and comprises twin D-plan towers flanking an arched entrance passage. Formerly the passage was defended by a portcullis and a double set of doors, with guard rooms on either side. Over the entrance are a series of rooms which may have served as accommodation for the castle's keeper. Collapsed masonry surrounds the gatehouse, dating from its destruction after 1690.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The Nether Bailey, the main focus of activity in the castle since around 1400, is anchored at its northern tip by the Grant Tower, the main tower house or keep. The tower measures , and has walls up to thick. The tower rests on 14th-century foundations, but is largely the result of 16th-century rebuilding. Originally of five storeys, it remains the tallest portion of the castle despite the southern wall collapsing in a storm in the early 18th century. The standing parts of the parapet, remodelled in the 1620s, show that the corners of the tower were topped by corbelled bartizans (turrets). Above the main door on the west, and the postern to the east, are machicolations, narrow slots through which objects could be dropped on attackers. The western door is also protected by its own ditch and drawbridge, accessed from a cobbled "Inner Close" separated from the main bailey by a gate. The surviving interior sections can still be accessed via the circular staircase built into the east wall of the tower. The interior would have comprised a hall on the first floor, with rooms on another two floors above, and attic chambers in the turrets. Rooms on the main floors have large 16th-century windows, though with small pistol holes below to allow for defence.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: To the south of the tower is a range of buildings built against the thick, buttressed, 14th-century curtain wall. The great hall occupied the central part of this range, with the lord's private apartments of great chamber and solar in the block to the north, and kitchens to the south. The foundations of a rectangular building stand on a rocky mound within the Nether Bailey, tentatively identified as a chapel.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: The Upper Bailey is focused on the rocky mound at the southwest corner of the castle. The highest part of the headland, this mound is the site of the earliest defences at Urquhart. Vitrified material, characteristic of early medieval fortification, was discovered on the slopes of the mound, indicating the site of the early medieval fortification identified by Professor Alcock. In the 13th century, the mound became the motte of the original castle built by the Durwards, and the surviving walls represent a "shell keep" (a hollow enclosure) of this date. These ruins are fragmentary but indicate that there were towers to the north and south of the shell keep.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: A 16th-century watergate in the eastern wall of the Upper Bailey gives access to the shore of the loch. The adjacent buildings may have housed the stables. To the south of this, opposite the motte, is the base of a doocot (pigeon house) and the scant remains of 13th-century buildings, possibly once a great hall but more recently re-used as a smithy.


title: Urquhart Castle

text: After the castle came into public hands repairs and excavations were carried out. These were interrupted by World War I but were resumed and completed by 1922. A large collection of relics was found, including a bronze ewer from the 15th century, coins, jewellery, crosses and other items from the 13th to 17th centuries. The excavations have been criticised for not recording the locations or stratigraphic information, but the collection is of great value, and is now mostly in the care of the National Museum, Edinburgh. Samson (1983) has provided a detailed list with illustrations.


title: Teleological argument

text: The teleological argument (from ; also known as physico-theological argument, argument from design, or intelligent design argument) is an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world which looks designed is evidence of an intelligent creator.


title: Teleological argument

text: The earliest recorded versions of this argument are associated with Socrates in ancient Greece, although it has been argued that he was taking up an older argument. Plato and Aristotle developed complex approaches to the proposal that the cosmos has an intelligent cause, but it was the Stoics who, under their influence, "developed the battery of creationist arguments broadly known under the label 'The Argument from Design'".


title: Teleological argument

text: Abrahamic religions have used the teleological argument in many ways, and it has a long association with them. In the Middle Ages, Islamic theologians such as Al-Ghazali used the argument, although it was rejected as unnecessary by Quranic literalists, and as unconvincing by many Islamic philosophers. Later, the teleological argument was accepted by Saint Thomas Aquinas and included as the fifth of his "Five Ways" of proving the existence of God. In early modern England clergymen such as William Turner and John Ray were well-known proponents. In the early 18th century, William Derham published his "Physico-Theology", which gave his "demonstration of the being and attributes of God from his works of creation". Later, William Paley, in his 1802 "Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity" published a prominent presentation of the design argument with his version of the watchmaker analogy and the first use of the phrase "argument from design".


title: Teleological argument

text: From its beginning, there have been numerous criticisms of the different versions of the teleological argument, and responses to its challenge to the claims against non-teleological natural science. Especially important were the general logical arguments made by David Hume in his "Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion", published in 1779, and the explanation of biological complexity given in Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species", published in 1859. Since the 1960s, Paley's arguments have been influential in the development of a creation science movement which used phrases such as "design by an intelligent designer", and after 1987 this was rebranded as "intelligent design", promoted by the intelligent design movement which refers to an intelligent designer. Both movements have used the teleological argument to argue against the modern scientific understanding of evolution, and to claim that supernatural explanations should be given equal validity in the public school science curriculum.


title: Teleological argument

text: Also starting already in classical Greece, two approaches to the teleological argument developed, distinguished by their understanding of whether the natural order was literally created or not. The non-creationist approach starts most clearly with Aristotle, although many thinkers, such as the Neoplatonists, believed it was already intended by Plato. This approach is not creationist in a simple sense, because while it agrees that a cosmic intelligence is responsible for the natural order, it rejects the proposal that this requires a "creator" to physically make and maintain this order. The Neoplatonists did not find the teleological argument convincing, and in this they were followed by medieval philosophers such as Al-Farabi and Avicenna. Later, Averroes and Thomas Aquinas considered the argument acceptable, but not necessarily the best argument.


title: Teleological argument

text: While the concept of an intelligence behind the natural order is ancient, a rational argument that concludes that we can know that the natural world has a designer, or a creating intelligence which has human-like purposes, appears to have begun with classical philosophy. Religious thinkers in Judaism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Islam and Christianity also developed versions of the teleological argument. Later, variants on the argument from design were produced in Western philosophy and by Christian fundamentalism.


title: Teleological argument

text: Contemporary defenders of the teleological argument are mainly Christians, for example Richard Swinburne and John Lennox.


title: Teleological argument

text: The argument from intelligent design appears to have begun with Socrates, although the concept of a cosmic intelligence is older and David Sedley has argued that Socrates was developing an older idea, citing Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, born about 500 BC, as a possible earlier proponent. The proposal that the order of nature showed evidence of having its own human-like "intelligence" goes back to the origins of Greek natural philosophy and science, and its attention to the orderliness of nature, often with special reference to the revolving of the heavens. Anaxagoras is the first person who is definitely known to have explained such a concept using the word ""nous"" (which is the original Greek term that leads to modern English "intelligence" via its Latin and French translations). Aristotle reports an earlier philosopher from Clazomenae named Hermotimus who had taken a similar position. Amongst Pre-Socratic philosophers before Anaxagoras, other philosophers had proposed a similar intelligent ordering principle causing life and the rotation of the heavens. For example Empedocles, like Hesiod much earlier, described cosmic order and living things as caused by a cosmic version of love, and Pythagoras and Heraclitus attributed the cosmos with "reason" ("logos"). In his "Philebus" 28c Plato has Socrates speak of this as a tradition, saying that "all philosophers agree—whereby they really exalt themselves—that mind ("nous") is king of heaven and earth. Perhaps they are right." and later states that the ensuing discussion "confirms the utterances of those who declared of old that mind ("nous") always rules the universe".


title: Teleological argument

text: Xenophon's report in his "Memorabilia" might be the earliest clear account of an argument that there is evidence in nature of intelligent design. The word traditionally translated and discussed as "design" is "gnōmē" and Socrates is reported by Xenophon to have pressed doubting young men to look at things in the market, and consider whether they could tell which things showed evidence of "gnōmē", and which seemed more to be by blind chance, and then to compare this to nature and consider whether it could be by blind chance. In Plato's "Phaedo", Socrates is made to say just before dying that his discovery of Anaxagoras' concept of a cosmic "nous" as the cause of the order of things, was an important turning point for him. But he also expressed disagreement with Anaxagoras' understanding of the implications of his own doctrine, because of Anaxagoras' materialist understanding of causation. Socrates complained that Anaxagoras restricted the work of the cosmic "nous" to the beginning, as if it were uninterested and all events since then just happened because of causes like air and water. Socrates, on the other hand, apparently insisted that the demiurge must be "loving", particularly concerning humanity. (In this desire to go beyond Anaxagoras and make the cosmic "nous" a more active manager, Socrates was apparently preceded by Diogenes of Apollonia.)


title: Teleological argument

text: Plato's "Timaeus" is presented as a description of someone who is explaining a "likely story" in the form of a myth, and so throughout history commentators have disagreed about which elements of the myth can be seen as the position of Plato. Sedley (2007) nevertheless calls it "the creationist manifesto" and points out that although some of Plato's followers denied that he intended it, in classical times writers such as Aristotle, Epicurus, the Stoics, and Galen all understood Plato as proposing the world originated in an "intelligent creative act". Plato has a character explain the concept of a "demiurge" with supreme wisdom and intelligence as the creator of the cosmos in his work.


title: Teleological argument

text: Plato's teleological perspective is also built upon the analysis of "a priori" order and structure in the world that he had already presented in "The Republic". The story does not propose creation "ex nihilo"; rather, the demiurge made order from the chaos of the cosmos, imitating the eternal Forms.


title: Teleological argument

text: Plato's student and friend Aristotle (c. 384 – 322 BC), continued the Socratic tradition of criticising natural scientists such as Democritus who sought (as in modern science) to explain everything in terms of matter and chance motion. He was very influential in the future development of classical creationism, but was not a straightforward "creationist" because he required no creation interventions in nature, meaning he "insulated god from any requirement to intervene in nature, either as creator or as administrator". Instead of direct intervention by a creator it is "scarcely an exaggeration to say that for Aristotle the entire functioning of the natural world, as also the heavens, is ultimately to be understood as a shared striving towards godlike actuality". And whereas the myth in the "Timaeus" suggests that all living things are based on one single paradigm, not one for each species, and even tells a story of "devolution" whereby other living things devolved from humans, it was Aristotle who presented the influential idea that each type of normal living thing must be based on a fixed paradigm or form for that species.


title: Teleological argument

text: Aristotle felt that biology was a particularly important example of a field where materialist natural science ignored information which was needed in order to understand living things well. For example birds use wings for the purpose of flight. Therefore the most complete explanation in regard to the natural, as well as the artificial, is for the most part teleological. In fact, proposals that species had changed by chance survival of the fittest, similar to what is now called "natural selection", were already known to Aristotle, and he rejected these with the same logic. He conceded that monstrosities (new forms of life) could come about by chance, but he disagreed with those who ascribed all nature purely to chance because he believed science can only provide a general account of that which is normal, "always, or for the most part". The distinction between what is normal, or by nature, and what is "accidental", or not by nature, is important in Aristotle's understanding of nature. As pointed out by Sedley, "Aristotle is happy to say ("Physics" II 8, 199a33-b4) without the slightest fear of blasphemy, crafts make occasional mistakes; therefore, by analogy, so can nature." According to Aristotle the changes which happen by nature are caused by their "formal causes", and for example in the case of a bird's wings there is also a final cause which is the purpose of flying. He explicitly compared this to human technology:


title: Teleological argument

text: The question of how to understand Aristotle's conception of nature having a purpose and direction something like human activity is controversial in the details. Martha Nussbaum for example has argued that in his biology this approach was practical and meant to show nature only being analogous to human art, explanations of an organ being greatly informed by knowledge of its essential function. Nevertheless, Nussbaum's position is not universally accepted. In any case, Aristotle was not understood this way by his followers in the Middle Ages, who saw him as consistent with monotheistic religion and a teleological understanding of all nature. Consistent with the medieval interpretation, in his "Metaphysics" and other works Aristotle clearly argued a case for there being one highest god or "prime mover" which was the ultimate cause, though specifically not the material cause, of the eternal forms or natures which cause the natural order, including all living things. He clearly refers to this entity having an intellect that humans somehow share in, which helps humans see the true natures or forms of things without relying purely on sense perception of physical things, including living species. This understanding of nature, and Aristotle's arguments against materialist understandings of nature, were very influential in the Middle Ages in Europe. The idea of fixed species remained dominant in biology until Darwin, and a focus upon biology is still common today in teleological criticisms of modern science.


title: Teleological argument

text: It was the Stoics who "developed the battery of creationist arguments broadly known under the label 'The Argument from Design'". Cicero (c. 106 – c. 43 BC) reported the teleological argument of the Stoics in "De Natura Deorum" ("On the Nature of the Gods") Book II, which includes an early version of the watchmaker analogy, which was later developed by William Paley. He has one of the characters in the dialogue say:


title: Teleological argument

text: Another very important classical supporter of the teleological argument was Galen, whose compendious works were one of the major sources of medical knowledge until modern times, both in Europe and the medieval Islamic world. He was not a Stoic, but like them he looked back to the Socratics and was constantly engaged in arguing against atomists such as the Epicureans. Unlike Aristotle (who was however a major influence upon him), and unlike the Neoplatonists, he believed there was really evidence for something literally like the "demiurge" found in Plato's "Timaeus", which worked physical upon nature. In works such as his "On the Usefulness of Parts" he explained evidence for it in the complexity of animal construction. His work shows "early signs of contact and contrast between the pagan and the Judaeo-Christian tradition of creation", criticizing the account found in the Bible. "Moses, he suggests, would have contented himself with saying that God ordered the eyelashes not to grow and that they obeyed. In contrast to this, the Platonic tradition's Demiurge is above all else a technician." Surprisingly, neither Aristotle nor Plato, but Xenophon are considered by Galen, as the best writer on this subject. Galen shared with Xenophon a scepticism of the value of books about most speculative philosophy, except for inquiries such as whether there is "something in the world superior in power and wisdom to man". This he saw as having an everyday importance, a usefulness for living well. He also asserted that Xenophon was the author who reported the real position of Socrates, including his aloofness from many types of speculative science and philosophy.


title: Teleological argument

text: Galen's connection of the teleological argument to discussions about the complexity of living things, and his insistence that this is possible for a practical scientist, foreshadows some aspects of modern uses of the teleological argument.


title: Teleological argument

text: As an appeal to general revelation, Paul the Apostle (AD 5–67), argues in Romans 1:18–20, that because it has been made plain to all from what has been created in the world, it is obvious that there is a God.


title: Teleological argument

text: Marcus Minucius Felix (c. late 2nd to 3rd century), an Early Christian writer, argued for the existence of God based on the analogy of an ordered house in his "The Orders of Minucius Felix": "Supposing you went into a house and found everything neat, orderly and well-kept, surely you would assume it had a master, and one


title: Teleological argument

text: author of the universe is fairer than the stars themselves or than any portions of the entire world ?"


title: Teleological argument

text: Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430) in The City of God mentioned the idea that the world's "well-ordered changes and movements", and "the fair appearance of all visible things" was evidence for the world being created, and "that it could not have been created save by God".


title: Teleological argument

text: Early Islamic philosophy played an important role in developing the philosophical understandings of God among Jewish and Christian thinkers in the Middle Ages, but concerning the teleological argument one of the lasting effects of this tradition came from its discussions of the difficulties which this type of proof has. Various forms of the argument from design have been used by Islamic theologians and philosophers from the time of the early Mutakallimun theologians in the 9th century, although it is rejected by fundamentalist or literalist schools, for whom the mention of God in the Qu'ran should be sufficient evidence. The argument from design was also seen as an unconvincing sophism by the early Islamic philosopher Al-Farabi, who instead took the "emanationist" approach of the Neoplatonists such as Plotinus, whereby nature is rationally ordered, but God is not like a craftsman who literally manages the world. Later, Avicenna was also convinced of this, and proposed instead a cosmological argument for the existence of God.


title: Teleological argument

text: The argument was however later accepted by both the Aristotelian philosopher Averroes (Ibn Rushd) and his great anti-philosophy opponent Al-Ghazali. Averroes' term for the argument was "Dalīl al-ˁināya", which can be translated as "argument from providence". Both of them however accepted the argument "because" they believed it is explicitly mentioned in the Quran. Despite this, like Aristotle, the Neoplatonists, and Al-Farabi, Averroes proposed that order and continual motion in the world is caused by God's intellect. Whether Averroes was an "emanationist" like his predecessors has been a subject of disagreement and uncertainty. But it is generally agreed that what he adapted from those traditions, agreed with them about the fact that God does not create in the same way as a craftsman.


title: Teleological argument

text: In fact then, Averroes treated the teleological argument as one of two "religious" arguments for the existence of God. The principal demonstrative proof is, according to Averroes, Aristotle's proof from motion in the universe that there must be a first mover which causes everything else to move. Averroes' position that the most logically valid proof should be physical rather than metaphysical (because then metaphysics would be proving itself) was in conscious opposition to the position of Avicenna. Later Jewish and Christian philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas were aware of this debate, and generally took a position closer to Avicenna.


title: Teleological argument

text: An example of the teleological argument in Jewish philosophy appears when the medieval Aristotelian philosopher Maimonides cites the passage in Isaiah 40:26, where the "Holy One" says: "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number:" However, Barry Holtz calls this "a crude form of the argument from design", and that this "is only one possible way of reading the text". He asserts that "Generally, in the biblical texts the existence of God is taken for granted."


title: Teleological argument

text: Maimonides also recalled that Abraham (in the midrash, or explanatory text, of Genesis Rabbah 39:1) recognized the existence of "one transcendent deity from the fact that the world around him exhibits an order and design". The midrash makes an analogy between the obviousness that a building has an owner, and that the world is looked after by God. Abraham says "Is it conceivable that the world is without a guide?" Because of these examples, the 19th century philosopher Nachman Krochmal called the argument from design "a cardinal principle of the Jewish faith".


title: Teleological argument

text: The American orthodox rabbi, Aryeh Kaplan, retells a legend about the 2nd century AD Rabbi Meir. When told by a philosopher that he did not believe that the world was created by God, the rabbi produced a beautiful poem that he claimed had come into being when a cat accidentally knocked over a pot of ink, "spilling ink all over the document. This poem was the result." The philosopher exclaims that would be impossible: "There must be an author. There must be a scribe." The rabbi concludes, "How could the universe ... come into being by itself? There must be an Author. There must be a Creator."


title: Teleological argument

text: Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), whose writings became widely accepted within Catholic western Europe, was heavily influenced by Aristotle, Averroes, and other Islamic and Jewish philosophers. He presented a teleological argument in his "Summa Theologica". In the work, Aquinas presented five ways in which he attempted to prove the existence of God: the "quinque viae". These arguments feature only "a posteriori" arguments, rather than literal reading of holy texts. He sums up his teleological argument as follows:


title: Teleological argument

text: Aquinas notes that the existence of final causes, by which a cause is directed toward an effect, can only be explained by an appeal to intelligence. However, as natural bodies aside from humans do not possess intelligence, there must, he reasons, exist a being that directs final causes at every moment. That being is what we call God.


title: Teleological argument

text: Isaac Newton affirmed his belief in the truth of the argument when, in 1713, he wrote these words in an appendix to the second edition of his Principia:


title: Teleological argument

text: This view, that "God is known from his works", was supported and popularized by Newton's friends Richard Bentley, Samuel Clarke and William Whiston in the Boyle lectures, which Newton supervised. Newton wrote to Bentley, just before Bentley delivered the first lecture, that:


title: Teleological argument

text: The German philosopher Gottfried Leibniz disagreed with Newton's view of design in the teleological argument. In the Leibniz–Clarke correspondence, Samuel Clarke argued Newton's case that God constantly intervenes in the world to keep His design adjusted, while Leibniz thought that the universe was created in such a way that God would not need to intervene at all. As quoted by Ayval Leshem, Leibniz wrote:


title: Teleological argument

text: Leibniz considered the argument from design to have "only moral certainty" unless it was supported by his own idea of pre-established harmony expounded in his Monadology. Bertrand Russell wrote that "The proof from the pre-established harmony is a particular form of the so-called physico-theological proof, otherwise known as the argument from design." According to Leibniz, the universe is completely made from individual substances known as monads, programmed to act in a predetermined way. Russell wrote:


title: Teleological argument

text: The 17th-century Dutch writers Lessius and Grotius argued that the intricate structure of the world, like that of a house, was unlikely to have arisen by chance. The empiricist John Locke, writing in the late 17th century, developed the Aristotelian idea that, excluding geometry, all science must attain its knowledge "a posteriori" - through sensual experience. In response to Locke, Anglican Irish Bishop George Berkeley advanced a form of idealism in which things only continue to exist when they are perceived. When humans do not perceive objects, they continue to exist because God is perceiving them. Therefore, in order for objects to remain in existence, God must exist omnipresently.


title: Teleological argument

text: David Hume, in the mid-18th century, referred to the teleological argument in his "A Treatise of Human Nature". Here, he appears to give his support to the argument from design. John Wright notes that "Indeed, he claims that the whole thrust of his analysis of causality in the Treatise supports the Design argument", and that, according to Hume, "we are obliged 'to infer an infinitely perfect Architect.