User:David.cormier

Bio Sketch
Born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, back when that area typified a Garden State. An old soldier of 28+ years in the US Army Signal Corps, with many assorted jobs held over the years. Resident of Rhode Island since 1979. Authored monographs on Paul Cuffe and ministerials and wrote articles on ministerials and the Ghana Empire for magazine Tournaments Illuminated. Certified middle school and high school Social Studies teacher.

B.A. Political Science, University of Rhode Island; M.A. Education, University of Rhode Island with certification to teach middle and high school social studies; Honor Society memberships: Kappa Delta Pi (education) and Phi Alpha Theta (history) The Honorable Order of Saint Barbara (US Army Artillery); l'Ordre du Bon Temps, Nova Scotia; Order of the Pelican, Society for Creative Anachronism

Articles Written
African Institution 19th century society

Châtel-Argent Aosta Valley, Italy

Cly castle Aosta Valley, Italy

Cormier, Robert (colonist) (1602-1712) Acadian French colonist

Denys, Nicholas (1598?-1688) French colonial leader

Double Rush 1995 television comedy

Fish, Marion - (1853 - 1915) Gilded Age socialite

Greene, Christopher (1737-1781) American Revolution Army officer

Hari-Kuyo (February or December 8) Shinto Festival of Broken Needles

Oelrichs, Theresa "Tessie" (1854-1926) Gilded Age socialite

Order of the Hatchet medieval award to women warriors

Paul, Peter Louis (1902-1989) Wolastokiyik (Maliseet) oral historian

Rienzi, Thomas (1919-2010) Major General and Chief Signal Officer

Sarriod de la Tour Castle, Aosta Valley, Italy

Articles Expanded Upon
Alva Belmont - Added Rise in Society section, yacht and Newport mansion and references.

Battle of Mlali - Had only one sentence. Fleshed out the infobox and text.

Bavaria-Landshut - Added many references where there were none, fact-checked.

Benefice - Fixed a poor definition, added references, a picture, Roman origins and secular usage.

Bischofshofen - Added a history section.

Burgmann - Pointed out distinctions with ministerials and added examples and sources.

Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor - Added references. Added Newport, RI with references.

Castellan Added pictures and resources and fleshed out each section of this stub article.

Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour (1593-1666) - Added rivalry with d'Aulnay.

Château de Chillon - Added its purpose, expanded history sections, added popular culture and citations.

Château de Tardes - Added infobox, location and history.

Cornelius Vanderbilt - Added early years, the origin of his nickname and references.

Dingo ate my baby = Added a Pop Culture ssection and Oz reference.

Donar's Oak - Added location information.

Eltz Castle - Added to the location, history and today sections, re-formatted sections. STUB is now START class.

First Battle of Langensalza - Added detail of the conduct of the battle, notes and resources.

Foucarville - Added the WWII prisoner of war camp.

Georgenberg Pact - Added any references, fleshed out narrative a bit, added pictures.

German heraldry - Added section on tinctures.

Hallein - Made a stub into a start-class article: added a section on culture, a picture, and references. Fixed grammar.

Heinfels Castle - Had no information. Added its location, history and a reference.

Henry Symes Lehr - added marriage details, nickname, and elaborate parties plus references.

History of Tyrol - Added 1423 parliament, Sigismund and Maximilian, plus references and a picture.

Innsbruck - Added Roman province, comital ownership and World War One attack.

Josef Speckbacher - Made a stub into a Start-class article. Added references and content.

Kitzbühel - Added mining information, sub-categorized the history section for readability, added the ski race and references.

Lavau, Aube - Added archaeological find and translated French wiki article.

Lorch (Württemberg) - Improved the stub by translating some of the German wiki.

Marksburg - Grammar, format and fleshed out history section plus references.

Military communications - Expanded a Start-class article. Added references and content.

Ministerialis - Expanded a Start-class article into a B-class article.

Muehldorf - Added the Middle Ages, link and refs.

Neuburg am Inn - Translated it from German and added some history, a picture of the castle and references.

Paul Cuffe (1759-1817) - Turned a start-class article into a C-class article. Extensive work on spelling, grammar and sources.

Peru - Added the controversial 2000 election with references.

Ploye - Added any references where there weren't any.

Pogue - Added "fobbit" and "REMF" with references. Edited grammar.

Rattenberg - Expanded the history, added references and categorized the article.

Rosenburg - Had to be completely rewritten. It sounded like a bad middle school book report. "One bitch of a monastery" - seriously?

Septimer Pass - Added 3 sources where there were none and fleshed out the history of this stub.

Sierra Leone Company- Added the first and second expeditions with references, reorganized layout.

Spital am Semmering - Added its foundation and refs.

Tactical communications - Expanded a bare stub into a Start-class article.

Toll castle - Added sources and lists of examples.

Ulrich von Liechtenstein - Added biographical information, impact of his works and references.

United States Army Signal Corps - Added World War II training sites, the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm/Shield; fixed footnotes

Ward McAllister - Seriously needed references

Articles Touched Up a Trifle
1st Rhode Island Regiment - Deleted incorrect reference.

Aaron Lopez - Added second wife and reference.

Acadia - Added minor content and references. Edited grammar, spelling, format.

African-American history - Added Herbert Gutman and touched up grammar.

Alexei Nikolaevich - Grammar.

Alemanni - Grammar and links.

Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy - Fleshed out his nickname story, placed events in order and added references.

American Colonization Society - Added Paul Cuffe refs.

Ardee, Ireland - Added refs.

Argengau - Added a ref.

baron - Expanded the introduction.

Bartolomé de las Casas - Fixed some punctuation and added a citation

Battle of Benevento - Added a reference and battle damage assessment.

Battle of Civitate - Grammar.

Battle of Mühldorf - Added any sources and references, fixed grammar.

Battle of New Orleans - Made consistent with Jean Lafitte, touched up phraseology

Battle of Rhode Island - Added background info

Battle of Riade - Added equipage of the soldiery and a source.

Benjamin Church - Added link to the Medical Corps (United States Army)

Benjamin Church (military officer) - Added links and corrected names, updated his rank and added more on the 1696 Acadia raid.

Boston, Lincolnshire - added a ref.

Burg Bruck - Added chapel frescoes, reference, and fixed some grammar.

Burg Hohenzollern - Added content about museum display and a cross-link.

Burghausen, Altötting - Reduced POV and fixed grammar. Added a source.

Castine, Maine - Spelling and grammar

Celia Lovsky - Added the Twilight Zone reference.

Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour (1593-1666) - Added references.

Château de Sully-sur-Loire - Grammar, timeline and flow

Château d'Yèvre-le-Châtel - Added infobox

Colmberg - Added small reference to the castle.

Corvey Abbey - Added a reference and fixed format.

Count palatine - Fixed links.

Crupet Castle - Added a bit of history.

Daniel Morgan - Spelling, added references when there were none.

Department of Defense Education Activity - Added links.

Down to the Countryside Movement - Added references.

Duchy of Savoy - Added historical bits and references.

Edgar Bergen - Added children's birth dates.

Fall of Constantinople - Added Mehmed's artillery train and ref.

Fort Adams - Grammar and spelling.

Freiburg im Breisgau - Added a reference.

Friesach - Added a reference and put events in chronological order.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney - Added details of husband's death and estate.

Gina Lollobrigida - Added son's birth date.

Gloria Vanderbilt - Added childhood anecdotes and references. Added citations for brother's death.

Grace Vanderbilt - Edited grammar, citations and format, added a source.

Great German Pilgrimage of 1064–1065 - clarified some statements a bit and fixed awkward sentence construction.

Henry Gibson - added Beverly Hillbillies role

Henry Stanton - Added childhood memory.

hide (unit) - added Holy Roman section.

Hinckley Yachts - Updated the language a bit.

Hochosterwitz Castle - Added information about the sights and a reference.

Hohensalzburg Castle - Added later construction and citations.

Hohenstaufen Castle - Added a reference.

House of Savoy - Added a reference.

Indenture - Added cross-links.

James Graham Fair - Grammar and a citation.

Jamestown, Rhode Island - added location of the Revolutionary War battery.

John Easton - Fixed grammar and a typo.

John Malkovitch - updated filmography.

Kent State shootings - Defined acronym and clarified terms.

Kingdom of Sardinia - Added results of the Congress of Vienna.

Kufstein Fortress - Added Maximilian's expansion and ref.

Lances fournies - Added German gleves and ref

Law of Germany - Added cross-links to Salic Law and Early Germanic Law.

Lex Bajuvariorum - Added Title VIII and reference.

Mali Empire - Added a reference.

Mehmed the Conqueror - Added the artillery train and ref.

Meersburg - Edited spelling and grammar.

Menelik II - Edited spelling and grammar.

Mercury (element) - Added reference to Spain's mines in the colonial era.

The Mission (film) - Fixed grammar. Clarified some plot points.

Murau - Fixed a bit of grammar and amended a date.

National Endowment for the Humanities - Added a link and date.

NEPAD - Grammar.

North Tyrol = Fixed a picture.

Ochre Court - added a second source.

Operations order - grammar, sentence structure.

Order of Good Cheer - Added a reference. Edited grammar.

Paul Cuffe Farm - Fixed spelling.

Peace and Truce of God - Added German equivalent.

Peninsulares - Added a reference.

Perry Mill, Newport, RI - Added a reference.

Pope Gregory VII - Added cross-links.

Prince Hall - added reference to Newport, was a slave, and worked as a steward.

Quebec City - Included Cap-Diamant in the mention of the river narrowing.

Rhode Island - Added references to the Great Swamp Fight, Metacomet, John, Nicholas and Moses Brown and Samuel Slater.

Richard Morris Hunt - Added his architectural philosophy about clients and its source.

Rodeneck - Added the origin of the alod.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber - poor html.

Sacagawea - Grammar and spelling.

Saint-Pierre, Aosta Valley - Grammar, and added a geography section.

Salic Law - Added compilation dates and references.

Salzburg - Fleshed out the history a bit, added citations.

Samori Ture - Added a reference, fixed spelling.

Schwaz, Austria - fleshed out the history section.

Sierra Leone - Added the African Institution period.

Society for Creative Anachronism - Clarified the description of the peerages.

Soninke people - Added to the Religion section and added any references.

Stuyvesant Fish - Added a few references.

The Breakers - Corrected construction details, added a source.

Thomas Tew - Added a privateer commission, fixed grammar, added a source and helped another reference.

Tittmoning - Added a burggraf and source.

Transylvanian Saxons - Added more about their flight, plus a reference.

Two Guys - Spelling and grammar, added the link to the commercial.

United States Army Signal Corps - Defined technical and operational terms. Edited grammar. Adjusted format to reflect added content.

Usquepaug, Rhode Island - Specified corn used and added a ref.

Vladimir Lenin - Clarified the use of an acronym.

Wendy Jo Sperber - Added Private Benjamin role and reference.

Weregild - Added Early Germanic Law practices and reference.

war wagon - Added a reference where there were none and fixed some grammar

William Backhouse Astor, Jr. - Broke up into sections for readability.

William Barton (soldier) - Broke up into sections for readability.

Yul Brynner - Added a source.

Frequently-used Sources

 * Arnold, Benjamin. German Knighthood 1050–1300 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985)
 * de Fabianis, Valeria, ed. (2013). Castles of the World. New York: Metro Books. ISBN 978-1-4351-4845-1
 * Delbrück, Hans, trans. Walter Renfroe Jr. History of the Art of War, Volume III: Medieval Warfare (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1982)
 * Freed, John B. "Nobles, Ministerials and Knights in the Archdiocese of Salzburg" Speculum 62:3 (July 1987) pp. 575–611
 * Freed, John B. "Reflections on the Medieval German Nobility," American Historical Review, 91:3 (June 1986), pp. 553–575
 * Freed, John B. Noble Bondsmen: Ministerial Marriages in the Archdiocese of Salzburg, 1100-1343 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1995)
 * Ganshof, François-Louis. “Benefice and Vassalage in the Age of Charlemagne.”Cambridge Historical Journal 6, No. 2 (1939): 147-175.
 * Leyser, Karl. “The German Aristocracy from the Ninth to the Early Twelfth Century: AHistorical and Cultural Sketch.” Past & Present 41, (Dec., 1968): pp. 25–53.
 * Thompson, James Westfall. "German Feudalism". The American Historical Review 28, no. 3 (1923) 440-474.