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Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sport with more complex rules. Most rules of (lawn) tennis derive from this precursor and it is reasonable to see both sports as variations of the same game. Most historians believe that tennis originated in the monastic cloisters in northern France in the 12th century, but the ball was then struck with the palm of the hand, hence the name jeu de paume (). It was not until the 16th century that Racket (sports equipment), rackets came into use and the game began to be called 'tennis'. It was popular in the Kingdom of France as well as in England, where Henry VIII of England was a notable enthusiast of the game, which is now referred to as 'real tennis'. Many original tennis courts remain, including courts at Oxford, Cambridge, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Centre Court
Centre Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (also known as the All England Club) and is the main court used in the Wimbledon Championships, the third annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is considered the world's most famous tennis court. It incorporates the clubhouse of the All England Club. Its only regular use for play is during the two weeks a year that the Championships take place. Centre Court has a premier box, known as the Royal Box, for use by the British royal family and other distinguished guests. It is the sixth largest tennis-specific stadium in the world by capacity. A retractable roof was installed in 2009, enabling play to continue during rain and into the night up until a council-imposed curfew of 11:00 pm. Centre Court, along with No. 1 Court and No. 2 Court, was also host to the tennis competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics. History The name "Centre Court" derives from the location of the principal co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was changed to the Fed Cup in 1995, and changed again in September 2020 in honor of former World No. 1 Billie Jean King. The Billie Jean King Cup is the world's largest annual women's international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete. The current chair is Katrina Adams. The men's equivalent of the Billie Jean King Cup is the Davis Cup, and the Czech Republic, Australia, Russia, Italy and the United States are the only countries to have won both Cups in the same year. History In 1919, Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman had an idea for a women's team tennis competition. This was not adopted but she persisted, presenting a trophy at the 1923 annual contest between the United States and Great Britain, named the Wigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James I Of Scotland
James I (late July 1394 – 21 February 1437) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scots from 1406 until his assassination in 1437. The youngest of three sons, he was born in Dunfermline Abbey to King Robert III of Scotland, Robert III and Annabella Drummond. His eldest brother David, Duke of Rothesay, died under suspicious circumstances while detained by his uncle, Robert, Duke of Albany. James's other brother, Robert, died young. Concerns for James's safety deepened in the winter of 1405–1406 prompting plans to send him to France. In February 1406, James took refuge in the castle of the Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth after his escort was attacked by supporters of Archibald, 4th Earl of Douglas. He remained there until mid-March when he boarded a vessel bound for France. On 22 March, an English vessel captured the ship and delivered James to Henry IV of England. The ailing Robert III died on 4 April and the 11-year-old James, now the uncrowned King of Scotland, would rema ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackfriars, Perth
The Church of the Friars Preachers of Blessed Virgin and Saint Dominic at Perth, commonly called "Blackfriars", was a mendicant friary of the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church founded in the 13th century at Perth, Scotland. The Dominicans ("Black friars") were said by Walter Bower to have been brought to Scotland in 1230 by King Alexander II of Scotland, while John Spottiswood held that they were brought to Scotland by William de Malveisin, Bishop of St Andrews. Later tradition held that the Perth Dominican friary was founded by King Alexander II.Cowan & Easson, ''Medieval Religious Houses'', p. 119. The ''Pontifical Offices of St Andrews'' listed the friary as having been dedicated on 13 May 1240. The earliest surviving grant to the church dates to 31 October 1241. Perth was perhaps the most important royal centre in the Kingdom of Scotland until the reign of King James III of Scotland, and the Dominican friary was frequently used for national church councils and as a r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Arthur
According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the Sub-Roman Britain, post-Roman Britons in battles against the Anglo-Saxons in the late-5th and early-6th centuries. He first appears in two early medieval historical sources, the ''Annales Cambriae'' and the ''Historia Brittonum'', but these date to 300 years after he is supposed to have lived, and most historians who study the period Historicity of King Arthur, do not consider him a historical figure.Tom Shippey, "So Much Smoke", ''review'' of , ''London Review of Books'', 40:24:23 (20 December 2018) His name also occurs in early Welsh-language literature, Welsh poetic sources, such as ''Y Gododdin''. The character developed through Welsh mythology, appearing either as a great warrior defending Britain from human and supernatura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood may have been inspired by the ancient Greek '' hippeis'' (ἱππεῖς) and Roman ''equites''. In the Early Middle Ages in Western Christian Europe, knighthoods were conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, a knighthood was considered a class of petty nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. In the Middle Ages, a knighthood was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust) from its orig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Gawain
Gawain ( ), also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has subsequently appeared in many Arthurian tales in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the Middle English poem '' Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''. Other works featuring Gawain as their central character include ''De Ortu Waluuanii'', '' Diu Crône'', '' Ywain and Gawain'', '' Golagros and Gawane'', '' Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle'', '' L'âtre périlleux'', '' La Mule sans frein'', '' La Vengeance Raguidel'', '' Le Chevalier à l'épée'', '' Le Livre d'Artus'', '' The Awntyrs off Arthure'', '' The Greene Knight'', and '' The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell''. In Arthurian chivalric romance literature, Gawain is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Second Shepherds' Play
''The Second Shepherds' Play'' (also known as ''The Second Shepherds' Pageant'') is a famous medieval mystery play which is contained in the manuscript HM1, the unique manuscript of the Wakefield Cycle. These plays are also referred to as the Towneley Plays, on account of the manuscript residing at Towneley Hall. The plays within the manuscript roughly follow the chronology of the Bible and so were believed to be a cycle, which is now considered not to be the case. This play gained its name because in the manuscript it immediately follows another nativity play involving the shepherds. In fact, it has been hypothesized that the second play is a revision of the first. It appears that the two shepherd plays were not intended to be performed together since many of the themes and ideas of the first play carry over to the second one. In both plays it becomes clear that Christ is coming to Earth to redeem the world from its sins. Although the underlying tone of ''The Second Shepherd's P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry IV Of England
Henry IV ( – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. Henry was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (a son of King Edward III), and Blanche of Lancaster. Henry was involved in the 1388 revolt of Lords Appellant against Richard II, his first cousin, but he was not punished. However, he was exiled from court in 1398. After Henry's father died in 1399, Richard blocked Henry's inheritance of his father's lands. That year, Henry rallied a group of supporters, overthrew and imprisoned Richard II, and usurped the throne; these actions later contributed to dynastic disputes in the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). Henry was the first English ruler whose mother tongue was English (rather than French) since the Norman Conquest, over 300 years earlier. As king, he faced a number of rebellions, most seriously those of Owain Glyndŵr, the last Welshman to claim the title of Prince of Wales, and the English knight Henry Percy (Hotspur) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gower
John Gower (; c. 1330 – October 1408) was an English poet, a contemporary of William Langland and the Pearl Poet, and a personal friend of Geoffrey Chaucer. He is remembered primarily for three major works—the ''Mirour de l'Omme'', ''Vox Clamantis'', and ''Confessio Amantis—''three long poems written in French, Latin, and English respectively, which are united by common moral and political themes. Life Few details are known of Gower's early life. He was probably born into a family which held properties in Kent and Kentwell Hall, Suffolk.Lee, Sidney (1890). "wikisource:Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gower, John, Gower, John". In ''Dictionary of National Biography''. 22. London. pp. 299-304. Stanley and Smith use a Confessio Amantis#Language, linguistic argument to conclude that "Gower’s formative years were spent partly in Kent and partly in Suffolk". Southern and Nicolas conclude that the Gower family of Kent and Suffolk cannot be related to the Yorkshire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglo-Norman Language
Anglo-Norman (; ), also known as Anglo-Norman French, was a dialect of Old Norman that was used in Kingdom of England, England and, to a lesser extent, other places in Great Britain and Ireland during the Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman period. Origin The term "Anglo-Norman" harks back to the time when the language was regarded as being primarily the regional dialect of the Norman settlers. Today the generic term "Anglo-French" is used instead to reflect not only the broader origin of the settlers who came with William the Conqueror, but also the continued influence of Parisian French from the House of Plantagenet, Plantagenet period onwards. According to some linguists, the name Insular French might be more suitable, because "Anglo-Norman" is constantly associated with the notion of a mixed language based on English and Norman. According to some, such a mixed language never existed. Other sources, however, indicate that such a language did exist, and that it was the language desc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
