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Professor Dave Petley is a an academic, Earth Scientist, and is Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hull. Previously he was Vice-President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield.

Education
Petley has a BSc in Geography from Kings College London (1990) and a PhD in Earth Sciences from University College London.

Career
He worked as a lecturer at the University of Sunderland and later at the University of Portsmouth. In 2000 he moved to the University of Durham where he established the Institute for Hazard and Risk and Resilience; in 2012 he became Dean of Research at Durham and also Dean of Global Engagement. Following a move to the University of East Anglia, he was appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise. He became Vice-President for Innovation at the University of Sheffield in 2020.

Interests
Petley's major research interest is landslides. In particular landslide mechanics, via both laboratory modelling and monitoring in the field. He has also worked extensively on the human and economic costs of landslides.

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The  Pattern 1831 sabre for General Officers is a British army pattern sword prescribed for the use of officers of the rank of major-general and above. It has been in continual use from 1831 to the present.

Background
Both French and British army officers encountered kilij and shamshir sabres as a result of Napoleon's expedition to Egypt. Termed 'mameluke swords' after the Mamluk warrior caste of Egypt, they became a fashionable accessory for officers, particularly senior officers. Similar swords were also found in India, and these probably influenced British officers also. Mameluke swords, both Middle Eastern and copies made in Europe, were adopted, unofficially, by officers of light cavalry regiments in the first decade of the 19th century, some were used as 'walking out swords' (for ornamental wear on social occasions on foot) but others were employed on active campaign. They are prominent in images of officers of the British Hussar regiments painted by Robert Dighton in 1807. As officially regulated dress or levée swords they first appear in 1822 for lancer regiments. Soon, other light cavalry and some heavy cavalry regiments also adopted similar patterns.

In 1822 generals and staff officers adopted a variant of the 1822 infantry officer's sword (often referred to as the 'Gothic hilt sabre'). It differed only in minor decorative elements of the guard and in the decoration of the blade. The decision to introduce a mameluke sword as the official regulation sword for officers of the rank of major-general and above is generally ascribed to the Duke of Wellington who is known to have favoured this type of sword himself.

Design
The 1831 pattern general officer's sabre was directly influenced by existing mameluke swords worn by officers of various cavalry regiments. It differs from the levée sword of the 3rd Light Dragoons only in very minor elements of decoration.

The hilt and blade retain many features of the of the Turkish kilij from which it was derived. These include the simple cross-guard with two opposing langets and the down curving 'pistol-grip' shaped pommel'; the blade retains the yelman false-edge and the step to the back of the blade (latchet) close to it. As a dress sword, it is of relatively lightweight construction. The weight of the sword is about 1lb 10.5oz (751g) and the scabbard about 1lb 1oz (482g). The 31 inch-long blade is slab-sided and of a 'V' shaped cross-section, it is double-edged for its last 12 inches (the yelman) and comes to a relatively acute asymmetric point. The flat sides of the blade afford a large area for decoration. This decoration, of acid-etching (often described as 'frost-etched'), varies greatly between makers but usually includes: a crossed baton and sabre, the monarch's monogram under a crown, and sprigs of oak or palm (or both). Acanthus leaf and scrolling plant motifs may also be present. Many blades were produced with a reserved section where the purchaser could have his initials or family crest added.

The hilt has a cross-guard with its écusson decorated with an oak leaf and acorn civic crown containing a crossed baton and sabre. The hilt elements (guard, grip scales and strap) are held together and attached to the blade tang by two bolts hidden by brass rosettes. the prominent sword knot bushing also screws together and adds to the solidity of the hilt. All the metallic hilt elements are of gilt-brass. The grip scales were originally of ivory, either elephant or mammoth, but in late Victorian times synthetic ivory-substitutes (such as 'ivorine') began to be used. Recent and modern swords are only produced using synthetic ivory.

The 1831 sabre was initially produced with two scabbards, a black leather scabbard with elaborate gilt mounts intended for lévees and evening functions and a brass scabbard for all other occasions. In practise the leather scabbard was soon dispensed with and the brass scabbard used universally. The brass scabbard has wood liners, two cross-shaped mounts for loose suspension rings and a square toe with a vestigial shoe/drag. In 1898 the brass scabbard was replaced by a steel scabbard of the same form.

The pattern was also adopted for field marshals, royal equerries and lords lieutenant of counties, with only minor differences in decoration. The cross-guard écusson decoration of crossed baton and sabre is replaced by two crossed batons for field marshals, royal equerries employ the monarch's cypher and lords lieutenant use national symbols appropriate to their county (rose for England, thistle for Scotland, shamrock for Northern Ireland or 'Prince of Wales' feathers' for Wales).

Use
Despite the blades of the 1831 sabre having to pass an official proving test (many specimens have brass 'proof slugs' inset into the blade near the hilt) the sword was never intended for combat use. The description of the proof test includes the phrase, "The blade recovers straightness after being subjected to a weight of 10 lbs vertically with 1 inch depression". The blades are of too light a weight for effective cutting and too flexible for thrusting. Throughout its 19th century use, generals when on active campaign employed the service swords particular to the corps they were employed in before their promotion. This was officially recognised in the Dress Regulations of 1900. The sabre was and is intended for dress wear, at levées, parades, inspections and other formal occasions when full-dress would be worn.

Scarf colours of other UK universities
Rhiainfellt, name variants including Rieinmelt and Rieinmelth, was a British princess of the royal house of Rheged. Her name means "Lightning Maiden" or "Lightning Queen" in Early Welsh She was a wife of Oswiu, King of Northumbria.

Rhiainfellt is identified in the Historia Brittonum as the wife of Oswiu and the granddaughter of Rhun son of Urien Rheged. Her status as Oswiu's wife is confirmed by her appearance in the Durham ‘Liber Vitae’, where, under the anglicised name 'Raegnmaeld' she appears in first place in a list of Northumbrian queens and abbesses. It is considered, on grounds of chronology, that Rhiainfellt was the mother of Alhfrith King of Deira. More circumstantial evidence suggests that she was also the mother of Oswiu's daughter, Eahlflæd.

According to British sources a connection between the rulers of Rheged and Northumbria predated Rhiainfellt's marriage, as her grandfather Rhun is credited with having baptised King Edwin of Northumbria. Bede, however, states that Bishop Paulinus baptised Edwin. The apparent conflict could be reconciled if Rhun in reality had stood sponsor at the baptism, thus becoming Edwin's godfather.

In the 1950s Jackson made the suggestion that Oswiu may have acquired Rheged peacefully, through his marriage. Becoming the legitimate successor to both Rheged and Northumbria.

Whatever the precise political relationship between Rheged and Northumbria, that a Northumbrian prince married a princess of Rheged shows that the British royal house retained high status, and probably political power. Rhiainfellt's father, 'Royth' (Rhaith - meaning 'Justice' in Welsh), was possibly the last king of an independent Rheged.



Manuel I Komnenos Andronikos Angelos John Angelos Baldwin of Antioch † John Kantakouzenos † Andronikos Lampardas Theodore Mavrozomes Constantine Makrodoukas Andronikos Kontostephanos

Comparison of combatant vessels

Though a number of authors have asserted that Richard did not know the English language, this is an argument made from lack of evidence. No contemporary source states that Richard knew no English. Indeed contemporary English prejudice against foreigners was used by his brother John to help destroy the authority of Richard's chancellor, William Longchamp, who was a Norman. One of the specific charges laid against Longchamp, by Hugh, Bishop of Coventry, was that he could not speak English.


 * Prestwich, J.O. (2004) The Place of War in English History, 1066-1214. Boydell Press.