Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2015 December 22

= December 22 =

Anne of Bohemia and Medieval Dowry
Why didn't Anne of Bohemia's marriage to Richard II of England come with any dowry? Weren't all daughters supposed to have been provided with dowries in the Middle Ages? Even in the 1600s, John IV of Portugal had to give up two colonial cities to England for the marriage of his daughter Catherine of Braganza. I am not understanding why Richard II would have paid his wife's family for the marriage (the opposite of a dowry); it makes less sense because there were little to no benefits to the marriage unless you want to argue that as an imperial German princess she would have a higher rank that other potential royal, ducal or comital brides but genealogically most European royals were of the same blood by the time anyway. What other examples of disadvantageous royal marriages were there where husbands had to pay their wives' family for the marriage? --The Emperor&#39;s New Spy (talk) 05:14, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Jennifer C. Ward explains: "As was customary from the eleventh century, the dowry was the concern of the bride's family and the dower of the bridegroom's. The dowry, however, did not always materialize. It was agreed at the negotiations that Anne of Bohemia's dowry would be settled later; it was never paid as her brother, the Emperor Wenzel, could not afford it. Chroniclers commented on Margaret of Anjou's lack of a dowry." Jennifer Ward, Women in England in the Middle Ages (2006), p. 124. Neutralitytalk 06:13, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * I can imagine that, in some circumstances, the groom (or his family) was more keen to secure an alliance than a dowry. Surtsicna (talk) 16:38, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

Nhs
Does the uk nhs operate as a business? It's it a state owned company? 2A02:C7D:B91D:CC00:50A6:F242:785:AAF3 (talk) 10:17, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * No the department of health is a government department. The nhs isn'. Does it have an organisational structure?t. 2A02:C7D:B91D:CC00:50A6:F242:785:AAF3 (talk) 10:24, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

There is no "UK" NHS. NHS England (if you're talking about England) is run as an Arm's Length body by the Department of Health. NHS England commission services or other commissioners. See National_Health_Service_(England) --Dweller (talk) 10:32, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * But does it operate as a business with an organisational structure and appointed CEO etc? Also there are some "arms length public bodies" that are also registered companies. For example the post office, NATS, Highways England and Network Rail. 2A02:C7D:B91D:CC00:50A6:F242:785:AAF3 (talk) 10:42, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Our article on NHS England is quite enlightening. --Dweller (talk) 10:45, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * The NHS as a whole doesn't operate as a business, but various bits of it do - and it's not a single organisation. Health services in a particular area are overseen by an NHS trust, which is efectively a publicly-owned company given a budget by the government, and each has its own CEO, board of directors and so on. The trust either runs or contracts out various health services. GPs and dentists are contractors, and some treatments can be outsourced to private surgeons, clinics or hospitals when NHS hospitals are overloaded. The trusts buy equipment, drugs etc. from private companies, and there's an "internal market" where trusts can outsource services, equipment etc, to each other. There are different kinds of trusts, and the details differ in the various constituent parts of the UK, but I think that should give you a reasonable general idea of how it works. --Nicknack009 (talk) 10:43, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

I see. But they aren't registered with companies house? Why are some public bodies registered as companies? 2A02:C7D:B91D:CC00:50A6:F242:785:AAF3 (talk) 10:48, 22 December 2015 (UTC)


 * No idea. The Royal Mail was sold off a couple of years ago, so it's a private company now, but before that it charged the customer for its services, so it was always a commercial enterprise - it wasn't operated as a public service. If by NATS you mean NATS Holdings, the air traffic control body, it's a private company operating under licence by the government, not a public body. Highways England and Network Rail are state-owned companies, so are probably also considered commercial entities, not public services. But if you need to know what bodies are required to be registered as companies and what aren't, that's probably a legal matter, and I'm not a lawyer. --Nicknack009 (talk) 13:20, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * If a public body needs limited liability, then it can be incorporated as a company limited by guarantee and would have to be registered at Companies House. That's the legal format of bodies liked further education colleges. Itsmejudith (talk) 22:33, 22 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Most of the NHS Trusts are Public-benefit corporations within the NHS. MilborneOne (talk) 22:52, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

Familiar With Microsoft Word ?? Need a bit of assistance with "Sort ascending," or making it possible to read my Tables in chronological order.
Question moved to Computer Desk at questioner's request.

Anyone happen to be familiar with Microsoft Word ???

I am working on some documents where I make lots of different Tables with different sections, and I really need to be able to "attach" the option of reading each different section in a chronological, alphabetic, numerical order etc. I believe the English call it "Sort Ascending." You know, so that you can switch between viewing the sections as you please, in an orderly fashion. I am convinced that Microsoft Word must have this option/tool, considering how otherwise advanced it is. But I can't find the option in the toolbar above. It must be there though...

If it is somehow unclear what I mean, here's a random example from one of Wiki's articles. Here the Tables has three different sections which you can switch between reading in chronological order. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

Like I said, I need to be able to use Microsoft Word to include "Sort Ascending" in my tables. Krikkert7 (talk) 14:42, 22 December 2015 (UTC)


 * It's easy to use Microsoft's sort table function, but I assume that you want a symbol at the top of the column that when you click it produces this effect. For this you need a Word Macro.  You don't have to use Visual Basic to write this, you can record the macro and assign it a shortcut key or button.  The method for assigning to a button is given not here.  If you are preparing a table for use in Wikipedia, then the procedure is much simpler, of course.    D b f i r s   15:43, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

The link you gave me, it is for Microsoft Excel... It works for Word also ? Krikkert7 (talk) 17:17, 22 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Sorry, my mistake. I originally has a different link.  This is the Word version, but this is simpler if you don't write Visual Basic.    D b f i r s   17:32, 22 December 2015 (UTC)


 * We have a Computing reference desk, where this question would have attracted a more appropriate audience. --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  19:17, 22 December 2015 (UTC)

Jack of Oz. Yes, of course. My bad. I didn't even realize my mistake until you pointed it out to me now... Silly and unnecessary mistake. I do not know how to move the question to the Computer reference desk though. Krikkert7 (talk) 20:50, 22 December 2015 (UTC)