User:Fromthemitten/sandbox

History
Casa Milà was built for the married couple Roser Segimon and Pere Milà i Camps. Roser Segimon was the wealthy widow of Josep Guardiola, an "Indiano," a term applied locally to Catalans returning from the American colonies with tremendous wealth. Her second husband, Pere Milà, was a developer and businessman interested in the arts and entertainment; he owned La Monumental bullring and would eventually go into politics. Milà was criticized for his flamboyant lifestyle and ridiculed by the contemporary residents of Barcelona, who wondered if he was not rather more interested in "the widow’s guardiola" (piggy bank), than in "Guardiola’s widow".

Milà wanted to stand out from bourgeois Barcelona, and this happened to be with a home on Passeig de Gràcia designed by a fashionable architect. While visiting Josep Batlló, his father's partner in the fiber hemp business, when Casa Batlló was being built, Milà met Gaudí and was assured that Gaudí's next work would be for him.

Milà bought the house at the corner of Passeig de Gràcia and Carrer de Provença owned by Jose Antonio Ferrer-Vidal on 9 June 1905. Gaudí was hired in September to design the new home, and on 2 February 1906 he presented the project to l'Ajuntament de Barcelona (City Council). Work began by demolishing the existing building rather than by renovating it, as had been done with Casa Batlló.

In 1910, Pere Milà entered the house in the city council's annual contest of artistic buildings. Other buildings under consideration were two works by Enric Sagnier (Carrer Mallorca 264, and the building at the intersection of Corsica and Diagonal), the Casa Gustà, which was the personal home of the architect Jaume Gustà, and the Perez Samanillo house designed by Juan José Hervás i Arizmendi. Although the most dramatic and clear favorite was the Casa Milà, the jury decided to rule it out, stating that "although the facades are finished, it lacks a lot of what it means be totally completed, finalized and in a perfect state of appreciation." The winner in 1910 was the Perez Samanillo house, which is now the site of the private club Círculo Ecuestre.

The building was completed in December 1910 and Milà asked Gaudí for a certificate to inhabit the mezzanine(? - residence was on the noble floor), which was authorized by l'Ajuntament in October 1911. Finally, on 31 October 1912 Gaudí issued the final certificate so that they could rent the other floors of the building.

Criticism, controversy, and challenges
In December 1907, the City Hall stopped work on the building because a pillar occupied part of the sidewalk and did not respect the alignment of facades. The local government also objected to other aspects of the project, fined the owners for many infractions of building codes, and ordered the demolition of aspects exceeding the height standard for the city. On 17 August 1908 Gaudí opened a new file because the house surpassed the height predicted and exceeded the volume to be built on 4,000 m2. The Council called for a fine of 100,000 pesetas (approximately 25% of the cost of work) or demolition of the attic and roof. The dispute was resolved a year and a half later, on 28 December 1909, when the Commission of the Eixample certified that it was a monumental building and not required to comply strictly with the municipal bylaws.

Gaudí, a devout Catholic and a devotee of the Virgin Mary, planned for the Casa Milà to be a spiritual symbol.[13] Overt religious elements included an excerpt from the Rosary prayer on the cornice and a monumental bronze image of the Virgin Mary as "Our Lady of the Rosary" (to have been sculpted by the artist Carles Mani i Roig), which Gaudí wanted as part of the facade in homage to the name of the owner (Roser is Catalan for Rosary). The statuary was also to include figures of the archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel.[13][14] The images were never completed, although the Marian inscription "Ave gratia M plena Dominus tecum" remains at the top of the facade. The Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Architecture states that the owner decided not to include the statues after Semana Trágica, an outbreak of anticlericalism in the city.[13] After the decision was made to exclude the statuary of Mary and the archangels, Gaudí contemplated abandoning the project but was persuaded not to by a priest.[14]

The building did not respect any rules of conventional style, which is why it received much criticism. For starters, the name "La Pedrera" is actually a pejorative assigned by citizens who decried its unorthodoxy. Satirical magazines were the main means of spreading criticism. The cartoonist Junceda presented it as a joke "Easter cake", and other cartoons appeared in the children's comic book En Patufet. Joaquim Renart i Garcia, in his diary, made a joke about the difficulty of setting the damask wrought iron balconies. Other homeowners on Passeig de Gràcia were angry with Milà and stopped saying hello, arguing that the genius of Gaudi would lower the price of land in the area.

Gaudí's relationship with Roser Segimon was not very good because they differed on criteria regarding the construction, decoration, and finishing of the house. The continuing disagreements meant that Gaudí took Milà to court for a settlement of his fees. The lawsuit was won by Gaudí in 1916, and he gave the 105,000 pesetas to charity to show that "the principles mattered more than the money." The Milàs had to pay the mortgage on La Pedrera.

After the death of the architect in 1926, Roser Segimon disposed of most of the furniture that Gaudí had designed and made a decorative wall cover in order to redo her house in the style of Louis XVI. When La Pedrera was acquired by Caixa Catalunya, the hidden elements once again saw the light after the restoration in 1990. [3]

When the Spanish Civil War started in July 1936, the Milàs were on vacation in Blanes. Some (parts of the) ground floor of La Pedrera were occupied by the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) and so the Milàs fled to an area controlled by the Nationalists, leaving their home after saving some artwork.[2]

Changes to the property
In 1940 Pere Milà died, and Roser Segimon sold her inherited properties in 1946. La Monumental went to the showman Pere Balañá, and La Pedrera went to Josep Ballvé i Pellisé in partnership with the family of Pío Rubert Laporta, known for their department stores in the Ronda Sant Antoni. The transaction resulted in 18 million pesetas for the building, and the Compañía Inmobiliaria Provenza SA (CIPSA) was created to administer it. [2] Roser Segimon continued to live in the main floor home until her death in 1964. [1] The new owners divided the first floor on the Carrer de Provença into five apartments instead of the original two. In 1953 they commissioned Francisco Juan Barba Corsini to construct 13 apartments in the attic, which until then had been the laundry. However it had become less frequently used and an unhealthy place, filled with debris and cast-offs. Barba Corsini respected Gaudí's original volume and structure, and the logic and freedom that gave the approach of open space without right angles. The apartments were located on the outer perimeter of the attic, leaving a distribution corridor at the curved part of the arches that surround the central courtyards, and a darker area between the two courtyards. Apartments were two or three rooms, some with a loft living, with a design and furniture typical of the 1950s. Barba Corsini used materials such as brick, ceramic, or wood, and designed furniture similar to that of Eero Saarinen[4], like his cadira pedrera (quarry chair), among others. This renovation also installed more chimneys that were inadequate next to Gaudí's.

In the 1960s, non-residential activities were brought into the building and mixed with the neighboring homes, which led to considerable losses in Gaudí's work, especially in the decorative elements. In 1966 the Northern Insurance Company was installed, after which a controversial bingo hall was installed that would remain until 1985. The owners also installed a private school and the offices of Cementos Molins (a cement manufacturer) and Inoxcrom (an inkpen manufacturer), among others.[2] Maintenance costs were very high and the owners let the building age, resulting in the loosening of stones in 1971. Emergency repairs were made by Josep Anton Comas with little respect for the original work, especially regarding the painting of of the courtyards. [5]

Restoration
On 24 July 1969, Gaudí's work received official recognition as an historical artistic monument;(by whom?) it was a first step to prevent major destruction. However Casa Milà was in poor condition in the early 1980s. It had been painted a dreary brown and many of its interior color schemes had been abandoned or allowed to deteriorate. It was not until 1984, with its inclusion with other Gaudí works as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that changes truly began in the protection of La Pedrera. First the City Council tried to rent the noble floor to install the offices for Barcelona's ultimately successful bid for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games. Then, on Christmas Eve 1986, Caixa Catalunya purchased La Pedrera for 900 million pesetas. On 19 February 1987 the most urgent restoration and cleaning of the facade commenced. The task was performed by architects Josep Emili Hernández-Cros and Rafael Vila, who also restored many of the original colors. In 1990, as part of the Cultural Olympiad, the renovated main floor where the Milàs lived was opened for the display of the Quadrat d'Or (Golden Square), dedicated to Modernisme architecture in the center of the Eixample. [2] At the present time the roof, attic, and a decorated fourth floor apartment are open for tours by the public.

Background
On January 17, 1893, the monarchy of the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown and a provisional government established. A primary objective of the provisional government was the annexation of Hawaii by the United States.

President Benjamin Harrison had submitted a treaty to annex the Hawaiian Islands to the United States Senate for ratification. Multiple viewpoints in the United States and in Hawaii were raised for and against annexation from 1893 to 1898. Historian Henry Graff says that at first, "Public opinion at home seemed to indicate acquiescence ... Unmistakably, the sentiment at home was maturing with immense force for the United States to join the great powers of the world in a quest for overseas colonies."

President Grover Cleveland, on taking office in March 1893, rescinded the annexation proposal. His biographer Alyn Brodsky argues it was a deeply personal conviction on Cleveland's part to an immoral action against the little kingdom:
 * Just as he stood up for the Samoan Islands against Germany because he opposed the conquest of a lesser state by a greater one, so did he stand up for the Hawaiian Islands against his own nation. He could have let the annexation of Hawaii move inexorably to its inevitable culmination. But he opted for confrontation, which he hated, as it was to him the only way a weak and defenseless people might retain their independence. It was not the idea of annexation that Grover Cleveland opposed, but the idea of annexation as a pretext for illicit territorial acquisition.

Cleveland had to mobilize support from Southern Democrats to fight the treaty. He sent former Georgia Congressman James H. Blount as a special representative to Hawaii to investigate and provide a solution. Blount was well known for his opposition to imperialism. Blount was also a leader in the white supremacy movement that in the 1890s was ending the right to vote by southern Blacks. Some observers speculated he would support annexation on grounds of the inability of the Asiatics to govern themselves. Instead, Blount opposed imperialism and called for the US military to restore Queen Liliuokalani. He argued that the Hawaii natives should be allowed to continue their "Asiatic ways".

Blount seems to have been unaware of the written policy for Hawaii set in Cleveland's first term by his Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard. Bayard sent written instructions to the American minister George W. Merrill that in the event of another revolution in Hawaii, it was a priority to protect American commerce, lives, and property. Bayard specified, "the assistance of the officers of our Government vessels, if found necessary, will therefore be promptly afforded to promote the reign of law and respect for orderly government in Hawaii." In July 1889, there was a small scale rebellion, and Minister Merrill landed Marines to protect Americans; the State Department explicitly approved his action. John L. Stevens, US Minister to Hawaii, had read those 1887 instructions and followed them in 1893.

A vigorous nationwide anti-expansionist movement, organized as the American Anti-Imperialist League, emerged that listened to Cleveland and Carl Schurz, as well as Democratic leader William Jennings Bryan, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, author Mark Twain, and sociologist William Graham Sumner, and many prominent intellectuals and politicians who came of age in the Civil War. The anti-imperialists opposed expansion, believing that imperialism violated the fundamental principle that just republican government must derive from "consent of the governed." The League argued that such activity would necessitate the abandonment of American ideals of self-government and non-intervention—ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, George Washington's Farewell Address, and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

However, the Antis could not stop the even more energetic forces of imperialism. They were led by Secretary of State John Hay, naval strategist Alfred T. Mahan, Republican congressman Henry Cabot Lodge, Secretary of War Elihu Root, and young politician Theodore Roosevelt. These expansionists had vigorous support from newspaper publishers William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, who used their print media to whip up popular excitement. There was deep concern that a Japanese takeover of Hawaii was inevitable, and would pose a serious threat to the US West Coast. Mahan and Roosevelt designed a global strategy calling for a competitive modern navy, Pacific bases, an isthmian canal through Nicaragua or Panama, and, above all, an assertive role for America as the largest industrial power.

In 1897, William McKinley replaced Cleveland as the US president. President McKinley's position was that Hawaii could never survive on its own. It would quickly be gobbled up by Japan, as already a fourth of the islands' population was Japanese. Japan would then dominate the Pacific and undermine American hopes for large-scale trade with Asia. In 1897, President McKinley signed a treaty of annexation for the Republic of Hawaii. It failed to gain the necessary two-thirds support in the Senate, with only 46 out of 90 senators voting yes. In April 1898, the United States went to war with Spain, and the Republic of Hawaii declared its neutrality. In practice, however, it gave enormous support to the United States, demonstrating its value as a naval base in wartime and winning widespread American approval for its non-neutral behavior.

Passage
With the opposition to annexation weakened by the circumstances of the Spanish-American War, Hawaii was brought into the United States by means of the Newlands Resolution rather than by a treaty. The resolution was a domestic congressional law, which needed only a simple majority vote in both houses for passage, and required no input from Native Hawaiians. Despite the bill being authored by a Democrat, most of the support came from Republicans. It passed the house by a vote of 209 to 91; the yeas included 182 Republicans. It was approved on July 4, 1898, and signed on July 7 by McKinley. On August 12 a ceremony was held on the steps of ʻIolani Palace to signify the official transfer of Hawaiian state sovereignty to the United States. The majority of Hawaiian citizens did not recognize the legitimacy of this event and did not attend.

The Newlands Resolution established a five-member commission to study which laws were needed in Hawaii. The commission included: Republic of Hawaii President and first Territorial Governor Sanford B. Dole (R-Hawaii Territory), Senators Shelby M. Cullom (R-IL) and John T. Morgan (D-AL), Representative Robert R. Hitt (R-IL), and former Hawaii Chief Justice and later Territorial Governor Walter F. Frear (R-Hawaii Territory). The commission's final report was submitted to Congress for a debate which lasted over a year. Congress raised objections that establishing an elected territorial government in Hawaii would lead to the admission of a state with a non-white majority. Annexation allowed duty-free trade between the islands and the mainland, and made the existing American military presence permanent.

The creation of the Territory of Hawaii was the final step in a long history of dwindling Hawaiian sovereignty and divided the local population. The annexation was opposed by the expressed wishes of the overwhelming majority of the indigenous population and without a referendum of any kind. Debate between anti-sovereignty and sovereignty activists still exists over the legality of the acquisition of Hawaiian land under the United States constitution. The Hawaiian sovereignty movement views the annexation as illegal. In 1993 the U.S. apologized for the annexation.

Cost
The United States assumed $4 million in Hawaiian debt as part of the annexation. David R. Barker of the University of Iowa stated in 2009 that unlike the Alaska Purchase, Hawaii has been profitable for the country, with net tax revenue almost always exceeding non-defense spending. He estimated an internal rate of return for the annexation of more than 15%.

The Catalan Revolt
Claris found a government with very grave economic problems, resulting from years of mismanagement, and in serious conflict with the Spanish Crown. The conflict had its roots in the discomfort generated in Catalan society by decisions made by an essentially Castilian government. Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, the chief minister of Philip IV, had been trying to distribute more evenly the huge military and economic burden of the Spanish Empire, until then supported mainly by the Crown of Castile. But his Union of Arms (Spanish: Union de Armas) policy, initially proposed in 1624, raised hostilities and protests all across the composite kingdoms of Spain.

Behind this new effort was the eagerness of Philip IV and the Count-Duke of Olivares to have all the lands of the Spanish Crown contribute financially to the expenses incurred in the Thirty Years' War, which had already devastated Castile economically. Catalonia had never felt that this conflict of expansionist roots was its own, as the Catalans had never expected anything. Olivares, to counterbalance this situation, wanted to move the conflict into Catalonia. In 1637, the Spanish went through Catalonia to attack Leucate in an effort to bring the war with the French to another front. On 19 July 1639, the French besieged and took the Fort de Salses in Roussillon. This initiated a severe struggle between the Count-Duke and the Generalitat to increase the Catalan efforts in the war. Finally, the deputies agreed to send Francesc de Tamarit to the front of a new draft of soldiers to recover the castle of Salses, which was achieved on 6 January 1640 (the feastday of the Epiphany). However, the cost for the principality in money and human lives was so great that the situation became explosive.

Additionally, the Crown accused the Generalitat of smuggling, due to a breach of the edicts of 1635 and 1638 that prohibited any trade with France because of the Thirty Years' War. The intervention of the sheriff Montrodón, commissioned by Dalmau de Queralt to the warehouses of Mataró and Salses, triggered the conflict, in which the lawyer Joan Pere Fontanella again played a prominent role in favor of the theses of the Deputies of the Generalitat. Although the city of Barcelona was initially reluctant, it sided with the Generalitat in 1639, especially because of the decision of the Spanish Crown to establish a general recovery from Catalonia of 50,000 pounds annually for the years 1639 and 1640.

In the end, the presence of Castilian troops in Catalonia during the Franco-Spanish War (1635-59) as part of the Thirty Years' War became the tipping point. Catalan peasants, who were forced to quarter Castilian troops, responded on 7 June 1640, Corpus Christi Sunday, with an uprising known as Corpus de Sang (English: "Bloody Corpus"). The Corpus de Sang began with the death of a reaper (Catalan: segador),[citation needed] led to the death of Dalmau de Queralt, Count of Santa Coloma and Spanish viceroy of Catalonia, and is considered the beginning of the Catalan Revolt (Guerra dels Segadors, or "War of the Reapers"). The situation took Olivares by surprise, with most of the Spanish army fighting on other fronts far from Catalonia.

According to historian J. H. Elliott, Dalmau de Queralt, Count of Santa Coloma and Viceroy of Catalonia, tried in vain to bribe Claris and Tamarit, who were uncomfortable with their roles in the service of the king.

At some point, contacts were made between the Catalan government and the Kingdom of France. Although it remains a controversial issue among historians, it seems that discussions could have already started in May 1640.

On 7 September 1640, the representatives of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Francesc de Tamarit, Ramon de Guimerà, and Francesc de Vilaplana (a nephew of Claris), signed the Pact of Céret with Bernard Du Plessis-Besançon, delegated by Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister for Louis XIII of France. According to the pact, Catalonia would receive military support from France in order to face the anticipated Castilian offensive. In addition, Catalonia would separate itself from the Spanish Monarchy and take the form of a free republic under the protection of the French king.

It is believed that faced with Castilian military pressure, Claris was progressively driven to accept an alternative encouraged by France, in which

Claris summoned the general court on 10 September 1640. The calling was a success, and the presence of royal cities and feudal villages was exceptionally large. This assembly, which worked with individual voting, began to create and apply various revolutionary measures, such as the establishment of a Council of Defense of the Principality and a special tax for the nobility. A Board of Arms (Junta General de Braços) was established to serve as the ruling entity for an independent Catalonia, the commitments from France and the secession were made official, and public debt was issued for funding the military expenses.

On 20 October 1640, Du Plessis-Besançon went to Barcelona, and some days afterwards, he signed the first pact of confraternity and military aid from France to Catalonia, by which France was engaged to defend the Principality.

Catalonian Republic
On 24 November 1640, the Spanish army under Pedro Fajardo, the Marquis of Los Vélez, invaded Catalonia from the south. On 23 December, Pau Claris declared war against Philip IV of Spain. The victorious advance of the Castilian troops through Tortosa, Cambrils, Tarragona, and Martorell forced the Board of Arms and Consell de Cent to yield to French influence, and on 16 and 17 January 1641, respectively, the Board and Consell accepted the proposal to constitute Catalonia into a republic under the protection of France. But the continued advance of the Castilians towards Barcelona, and the French pretensions toward Catalonia, brought Claris to end the republican project and proclaim Louis XIII the Count of Barcelona on 23 January 1641, three days before the Battle of Montjuïc in which the French and Catalan armies defeated the Castilian forces and stopped the attack in Barcelona.

__________________________________________ OSLO

1000–1600
During the Viking Age (circa 793 to 1066), the area that includes modern Oslo was located in Viken, the northernmost province of Denmark. According to the Norse sagas, Oslo was founded around 1049 by Harald Hardrada. However, archaeological research in the 1970s uncovered Christian burials at the site of St. Clement's church which were dated to circa AD 1000, evidence of a preceding urban settlement. This called for the celebration of Oslo's millennium in 2000. Control over the area shifted between Danish and Norwegian kings in the early Middle Ages, and Denmark continued to claim the area until 1241.

Under the reign of Olaf III of Norway (1067-1093), Oslo became a cultural centre for Eastern Norway. Hallvard Vebjørnsson became the city's patron saint and is depicted on the city's seal.

In 1174, Hovedøya Abbey was built on the neighboring island. The churches and abbeys became major owners of large tracts of land, which proved important for the city's economic development, especially before the Black Death.

On 25 July 1197, Sverre of Norway and his soldiers attacked Oslo from the island of Hovedøya.

During the Middle Ages, Oslo reached its heights during the reign of Haakon V (1299-1319). He started the construction of the Akershus Fortress and the Oslo Kongsgård estate, and was also the first king to reside permanently in the city. Oslo has been regarded as the capital city of Norway since his reign.

At the end of the 12th century, Hanseatic League traders from Rostock moved into Oslo and gained major influence in the city.

The Black Death came to Norway in 1349 and, like other cities in Europe, Oslo suffered greatly.

Beginning in 1397, Norway entered into a personal union (Kalmar Union) with the kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark, and Oslo's role was reduced to that of provincial administrative centre, with the monarchs residing in Copenhagen.

The churches' earnings from their land also dropped so much that the Hanseatic traders dominated the city's foreign trade in the 15th century.

17th century
Over the years, fire destroyed major parts of the city many times, as many of the city's buildings were constructed entirely of wood. After the fourteenth calamity, which lasted for three days in 1624, Christian IV of Denmark and Norway decided that the old city should not be rebuilt again. His men built a network of roads across the bay in Akershagen near Akershus Castle. This part of the city is now often called Kvadraturen because of its orthogonal layout in regular, square blocks. Christian IV demanded that all citizens move their shops and workplaces to the newly built city, which was named Christiania in honor of the king.

The transformation of the city went slowly for the first hundred years, but Christiania began to establish its stature as a centre of commerce and culture in Norway. The last Black Death outbreak in Oslo occurred in 1654. 

18th century
In the 18th century, after the Great Northern War (1700-1721), the city's economy boomed with shipbuilding and trade. The strong economy transformed Christiania into a trading port.

19th century
The fact that the Royal Frederick University (now the University of Oslo) was founded as late as 1811 had an adverse effect on the development of the nation.

In 1814 the former provincial town of Christiania became the capital of the independent Kingdom of Norway, now in a personal union with Sweden. Several state institutions were established and the city's role as a capital initiated a period of rapidly increasing population. The government of this new state needed buildings for its expanding administration and institutions. Several important buildings were erected: the Bank of Norway (1828), the Royal Palace (1848), and the Storting (the Parliament building) (1866). Large areas of the surrounding Aker municipality were incorporated into Christiania in 1839, 1859, and 1878. The 1859 expansion included Grünerløkka, Grønland, and the original Oslo. At that time the area called Oslo (now Gamlebyen or Old Town) was a village or suburb outside the city borders east of Aker river. The population increased from approximately 10,000 in 1814 to 230,000 in 1900. Christiania expanded its industry from 1840, most importantly around the river Akerselva. There was a spectacular building boom during the last decades of the 19th century, with many new apartment buildings and renewal of the city center, but the boom collapsed in 1899.

Many landmarks were built in the 19th century, including the University, the National Theatre, and the Stock Exchange. Among the world-famous artists who lived here during this period were Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun (the latter was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature). In 1850, Christiania also overtook Bergen and became the most populous city in the country. In 1877, the city was renamed Kristiania.

1900–present
The municipality developed new areas such as Ullevål garden city (1918–1926) and Torshov (1917–1925).

On 1 January 1925, the name of the city was restored to "Oslo" from "Kristiania". Norwegians argued that a name memorializing a Danish king was inappropriate for the capital of Norway, which had become fully independent in 1905. The landmark City Hall was constructed in the former slum area of Vika from 1931 to 1950.

On 9 April 1940, Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Weserübung. The fifth arm of the operation advanced up the Oslofjord with aims to capture King Haakon VII and take over the government and capital city. The advance was delayed by the defense at the Oscarsborg Fortress, whose torpedo batteries sank the heavy cruiser Blücher, killing many key German operatives and forcing the remainder of the small fleet to reverse course. German forces eventually reached Oslo by air and land, but by then the king, government, and treasury had relocated to Elverum, before continuing north to Tromsø, and finally serving as government-in-exile in London, England. The government returned to Oslo on 31 May 1945, and Haakon VII and the royal family followed on 7 June.

In 1948 Oslo merged with Aker, a municipality which was 27 times larger and surrounded the capital, thus creating the modern, vastly enlarged Oslo municipality. At the time Aker was a mostly affluent, green suburban community, and the merger was not popular there. In addition, suburbs were developed, such as Lambertseter (from 1951).

Aker Brygge was constructed on the site of the former shipyard Akers Mekaniske Verksted from 1982 to 1998.

In the 2011 Norway terror attacks, Oslo was hit by a bomb blast that ripped through the Government quarter, damaging several buildings including the building that houses the Office of the Prime Minister. Eight people died in the bomb attack.

_______________________________________________________________________--

Geography
The march comprised the lands north and south of the Danube river, with the Enns tributary in the west forming the border with the Traungau shire of the Bavarian stem duchy. The eastern frontier with the Hungarian settlement area in the Pannonian Basin ran along the Morava (March) and Leitha rivers, with the Gyepű borderland (the present-day Burgenland region) beyond. In the north, the march bordered on the Bohemian duchy of the Přemyslids, and the lands in the south belonged to the Dukes of Carinthia, also newly instated in 976. The early march corresponded closely to the modern region of Lower Austria.

The initial Babenberger residence was probably at Pöchlarn on the former Roman limes, but maybe already Melk, where subsequent rulers resided. The original march coincided with the modern Wachau, but was shortly enlarged eastwards at least as far as the Wienerwald. Under Margrave Ernest the Brave (1055–1075), the colonisation of the northern Waldviertel up to the Thaya river and the Bohemian march of Moravia was begun, and the Hungarian March was merged into Austria. The margraves' residence later was moved down the Danube to Klosterneuburg until in 1142 Vienna became the official capital. The Babenbergs had a defense system of several castles built in the Wienerwald mountain range and along the Danube river, among them Greifenstein. The surrounding area was colonized and Christianized by the Bavarian Bishops of Passau, with ecclesiastical centres at the Benedictine abbey of Sankt Pölten, at Klosterneuburg Monastery and Heiligenkreuz Abbey.

The early margraviate was populated by a mix of Slavic and native Romano-Germanic peoples who were apparently speaking Rhaeto-Romance languages, remnants of which remain today in parts of northern Italy (Friulian and Ladin) and in Switzerland (Romansh). In the Austrian Alps some valleys retained their Rhaeto-Romance speakers until the 17th century.

Geography
The march comprised the lands north and south of the Danube river, with the Enns tributary forming the western border with the Traungau shire of the Bavarian stem duchy. The original march coincided with the modern Wachau (the Danube Valley between Melk and Krems), but was shortly enlarged eastwards at least as far as the Wienerwald. In the north, the march bordered on the Bohemian duchy of the Přemyslids, and the lands to the south became the Duchy of Carinthia in 976. The early march corresponded closely to the modern region of Lower Austria.

The growth of the Austrian march was primarily along its eastern border. After the extension to the Wienerwald, The eastern frontier with the Hungarian settlement area in the Pannonian Basin ran along the Morava (March) and Leitha rivers, with the Gyepű borderland (the present-day Burgenland region) beyond.

Background
The first marches covering approximately the territory that would become Austria and Slovenia were the Avar March and the adjacent March of Carantania (the later March of Carinthia) in the south. Both were established in the late 8th century by Charlemagne upon the incorporation of the territory of the Agilolfing dukes of Bavaria against the invasions of the Avars. When the Avars disappeared in the 820s, they were replaced largely by West Slavs, who settled here within the state of Great Moravia. The March of Pannonia was set apart from the Duchy of Friuli in 828 and set up as a march against Moravia within the East Frankish regnum of Bavaria. This march, already called marcha orientalis, corresponded to a frontier along the Danube from the Traungau to Szombathely and the Rába river including the Vienna basin. By the 890s, the Pannonian march seems to have disappeared, along with the threat from Great Moravia, during the Hungarian invasions of Europe. Upon the defeat of Margrave Luitpold of Bavaria at the 907 Battle of Pressburg, all East Frankish lands beyond the Enns river were lost.

Margraviate
In 955 King Otto I of Germany started the reconquest with his victory at the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. The obscurity of the period from circa 900 until 976 leads some to posit that a Pannonian or Austrian march existed against the Magyars, alongside the other marches which had been incorporated into Bavaria by 952 (Carniola, Carinthia, Istria, and Verona). However, much of Pannonia was still conquered by the Magyars. Otto I had a new Eastern March (marcha orientalis) erected and by 972, he appointed Burchard as margrave. In 976, during a general restructuring of Bavaria upon the insurrection of Duke Henry II the Wrangler, Otto's son and successor Emperor Otto II deposed Burchard and appointed the Babenberg count Leopold the Illustrious from the House of Babenberg margrave in turn for his support.

The initial Babenberger residence was probably at Pöchlarn on the former Roman limes, but maybe already Melk, where subsequent rulers resided. Under Margrave Ernest the Brave (1055–1075), the colonisation of the northern Waldviertel up to the Thaya river and the Bohemian march of Moravia was begun, and the Hungarian March was merged into Austria. The margraves' residence later was moved down the Danube to Klosterneuburg until in 1142 Vienna became the official capital. The Babenbergs had a defense system of several castles built in the Wienerwald mountain range and along the Danube river, among them Greifenstein. The surrounding area was colonized and Christianized by the Bavarian Bishops of Passau, with ecclesiastical centres at the Benedictine abbey of Sankt Pölten, at Klosterneuburg Monastery and Heiligenkreuz Abbey.

Margravial Austria reached its greatest height under Leopold III, a great friend of the church and founder of abbeys. He patronised towns and developed a great level of territorial independence. In 1139, Leopold IV inherited Bavaria. When his successor, the last margrave, Henry Jasomirgott, was deprived of Bavaria in 1156, Austria was elevated to a duchy independent from Bavaria by the Privilegium Minus of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. From 1192 the House of Babenberg also ruled over the neighbouring Duchy of Styria. The line became extinct with the death of Duke Frederick II of Austria at the 1246 Battle of the Leitha River. The heritage was finally asserted by the German king Rudolph of Habsburg against King Ottokar II of Bohemia in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld.

The early margraviate was populated by a mix of Slavic and native Romano-Germanic peoples who were apparently speaking Rhaeto-Romance languages, remnants of which remain today in parts of northern Italy (Friulian and Ladin) and in Switzerland (Romansh). In the Austrian Alps some valleys retained their Rhaeto-Romance speakers until the 17th century.

HISTORY OF VIENNA The aftermath of the Third Crusade proved very significant for Vienna. During the crusade, King Richard the Lionheart of England insulted Duke Leopold V the Virtuous of Austria by removing the Austrian standard from the ramparts after the successful Siege of Acre. Leopold V also suspected that Richard had a hand in the subsequent murder of his cousin, Conrad of Montferrat, shortly after he was crowned King of Jerusalem. As it turned out, Richard was forced to travel back to England via land, and he was discovered and captured by Leopold V two days before Christmas of 1192 in Erdberg near Vienna. Leopold V held him in Dünstein, and then turned him over to Holy Roman Emperor Henry II in March 1193. Henry II required a ransom for Richard's release, and the sum enabled a mint to be created in Vienna, as well as the construction of the city walls around the year 1200. Remains of these walls can be seen today at the U-Bahn station Stubentor. Unfortunately, because he had imprisoned a protected crusader, Leopold V was excommunicated by Pope Celestine III, and he died without ever receiving papal absolution, after falling from a horse in a tournament in 11xx.

brought an enormous ransom of 50,000 Silver Marks (about 10 to 12 tons of silver, about a third of the emperor's claims against the English. Richard had been extradited to him in March 1193). This allowed the creation of a mint and the construction of city walls around the year 1200. At the U-Bahn station Stubentor, some remains of the city walls can still be seen today. Because he had abused a protected crusader, V was excommunicated by Pope Celestine III, and died (without having been absolved) after falling from a horse in a tournament.

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Background
Olaf Haraldsson is attested having been born in Ringerike, in 995. This Ringerike should not be conflated with the modern municipality of the same name, which although named after the traditional Ringerike is much smaller in size. Olaf was the son of Åsta Gudbrandsdatter and Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold. Harald Grenske died when Åsta Gudbrandsdatter was pregnant with Olaf. Harald was described by later Icelandic sagas as having been the son of Gudrød Bjørnsson, who was the son of King Bjørn Farmann in Vestfold, who was the son of King Harald I Fairhair Halvdansson. By this genealogy, Olaf was the great-great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, who had unified Norway as one kingdom, establishing a feudalist structure with the kingship far less dependent of local rulers, earls, herses, and the so-called petty kings.

Åsta later married Sigurd Syr, with whom she had other children, including Harald Hardrada, who later also reigned as king of Norway. In 998, when Olaf was three years old, king Olaf Trygvason came to Ringerike to spread Christianity. Sigurd Syr and Åsta allowed themselves to be baptized along with Olaf, and Olaf Trygvason served as godfather to Olaf Haraldson.

the district named after the legendary Ringerike of Ivar Vidfamne and Sigurd Hring, which may be regarded as the confederation of five petty kingdoms conferring with the five kings that established Olaf Haraldson as their High King at Hringsakri according to Saint Olafs Saga, King Hrœrekr, King Guðrøðr, King Hring and three others of less certain identity. Olaf Haraldsson did not become King of Norway until the Battle of Nesjar.

Saga sources for Olaf Haraldsson
Many texts have information about Olaf Haraldsson. The oldest is the Glælognskviða or "Sea-Calm Poem", composed by Þórarinn loftunga, an Icelander. It praises Olaf and mentions some of the famous miracles attributed to him. The Norwegian synoptic histories also mention Olaf. These include the Ágrip af Nóregskonungasögum (c. 1190), the Historia Norwegiae (c. 1160–1175) and a Latin text, Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium by Theodoric the Monk (c. 1177–1188).

Icelanders also wrote extensively about Olaf and there are several Icelandic sagas about him, including Fagrskinna (c. 1220) and Morkinskinna (c. 1225–1235). Heimskringla (c. 1225), by Snorri Sturluson, largely bases its account of Olaf on the earlier Fagrskinna. The Oldest Saga of St. Olaf (c. 1200) is important to scholars for its constant use of skaldic verses, many of which are attributed to Olaf himself.

Finally, many hagiographic sources describe St. Olaf, but these focus mostly on miracles attributed to him and cannot be used to accurately recreate his life. A notable one is The Passion and the Miracles of the Blessed Olafr.

Reign
A widely used account of Olaf's life is found in Heimskringla from c. 1225. Although its facts are dubious, the saga recounts Olaf's deeds as follows: In 1007, at the age of 12, Olaf went to sea with Hrane the Far-travelled - first to the Baltic, then to Denmark and later to England. In 1008, Olaf landed on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (Osilia; called "Eysyssel" in Laing's English translation). The Osilians, taken by surprise, had at first agreed to Olaf's demands, but then gathered an army during the negotiations and attacked the Norwegians. Olaf nevertheless won the battle.

Olaf sailed to the southern coast of Finland sometime in 1008. The journey resulted in the Battle at Herdaler, where Olaf and his men were ambushed in the woods. Olaf lost many men but made it back to his boats. He ordered his ships to depart despite a rising storm. The Finns pursued them and made the same progress on land as Olaf and his men made on water. Despite these events they survived. The exact location of the battle is uncertain and the Finnish equivalent of Herdaler is unknown. It has been suggested that it could be in Uusimaa.

Heimskringla states that Olaf next went to Denmark, where he meets fellow Viking Thorkell the Tall, and then on to England in 1009. It has been stated elsewhere that Olaf participated alongside Thorkell the Tall in the Siege of Canterbury in 1011.

Heimskringla and other skaldic poetry suggest that Olaf led a successful seaborne attack that took down London Bridge for the benefit of Æthelred the Unready, though Anglo-Saxon sources do not confirm this. This may have been in 1014, restoring London and the English throne to Æthelred and removing Cnut the Great. According to Snorri's Heimskringla, the attack happened soon after the death of Sweyn Forkbeard with the city being held by Danish forces. Snorri's account claims that Olaf assisted Æthelred in driving the Danes out of England. Olaf is also said by Snorri to have aided the sons of Æthelred after his death. Olaf is said to have won battles but been unable to assist Æthelred's sons in driving Cnut out. Olaf saw it as his calling to unite Norway into one kingdom, as Harald Fairhair had largely succeeded in doing. On the way home he wintered with Duke Richard II of Normandy (1014-1015).

Richard was himself an ardent Christian, and the Normans had also previously converted to Christianity. Before leaving, Olaf was baptised in Rouen in the pre-Romanesque Notre-Dame Cathedral by Richard's brother Robert the Dane, archbishop of Normandy.

Olaf returned to Norway in 1015 and declared himself king, obtaining the support of the six petty kings of the Norwegian Uplands. In 1016 at the Battle of Nesjar he defeated Earl Sweyn, one of the earls of Lade and hitherto the de facto ruler of Norway. Olaf founded the town of Borg, later known as Sarpsborg, by the waterfall Sarpsfossen in Østfold county. Within a few years he had won more power than any of his predecessors on the throne had enjoyed.

Olaf annihilated the petty kings of the South, subdued the aristocracy, asserted his suzerainty in the Orkney Islands, and conducted a successful raid on Denmark. Through the interventions of Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker and jarl Ragnvald Ulfsson, Olaf achieved a tentative peace with King Olof Skötkonung of Sweden including an engagement to Olof's daughter, Ingegerd. However, Olof of Sweden ultimately reneged on his promise, and Ingegerd was betrothed to Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev. So in 1019, Olaf instead married King Olof's illegitimate daughter Astrid without his permission. The union produced a daughter, Wulfhild, who married Ordulf, Duke of Saxony in 1042.

Olaf's success was short-lived, however. In 1026 he lost the Battle of the Helgeå, and in 1029 the Norwegian nobles, seething with discontent, supported the invasion of King Cnut the Great of Denmark. Olaf left Norway and stayed for some time in the Swedish province of Nerike, where, according to local legend, he baptised many locals. He then went into exile in Kievan Rus. In 1029, King Cnut's Norwegian regent, Jarl Håkon Eiriksson, was lost at sea and Olaf seized the opportunity to try and win back the kingdom. Given military and logistical support by the Swedish king Anund Jacob, he tried to bypass the formidable "Øresundfleet" of the Danish king by traveling across the Jämtland-mountains to take Nidaros (Trondheim), the Norwegian capital at the time, in 1030. However, Olaf was killed in the Battle of Stiklestad, where some of his own subjects from central and northern Norway took arms against him.

Burial and Miracles
According to the Heimskringla, farmer Thorgils Halmason and his son Grim took Olaf's body from the battlefield to a nearby hut, where they washed it and wrapped it in linen and hid it under some firewood. That night a blind man and a boy came upon the hut while looking for lodging and food. The blind man's hands touched the water on the floor, and then he touched his eyes and regained his sight. He went to the farmhouse to tell the villagers of his cure, and Thorgils and his son immediately realized it as a miracle due to St. Olaf. So they went and moved his body to a nearby garden in case anyone came to search the hut.

The exact position of Saint Olaf's grave in Nidaros has been unknown since 1568, due to the effects of the Lutheran iconoclasm in 1536–37.

Norway after Olaf
King Cnut, though distracted by the task of governing England, ruled Norway for five years after Stiklestad, with his son Svein and Svein's mother Ælfgifu (known as Álfífa in Old Norse sources) as regents. But their regency was unpopular, and when Olaf's illegitimate son Magnus ('the Good') laid claim to the Norwegian throne, Svein and Ælfgifu were forced to flee.