|
Zwarte Piet
Zwarte Piet (; ; ; ), also known in English by the translated name Black Pete, is a companions of Saint Nicholas, companion of Saint Nicholas. (; ; ; ) in the folklore of the Low Countries. Traditionally, Zwarte Piet serves as an assistant to the saint and distributes sweets and gifts to well-behaved children. The depiction of Zwarte Piet has gone through several changes since the mid 19th century. The earliest known illustration of the character comes from an 1850 book by Amsterdam schoolteacher Jan Schenkman and portrays him as a Blackamoor (decorative arts), black Moor. This became the dominant representation of Zwarte Piet throughout the 20th century. Those portraying the traditional version of the character, since deemed a racial stereotype, usually put on blackface#Belgium and Netherlands, blackface and colourful 1550–1600 in fashion, Renaissance attire in addition to curly wigs and bright red lipstick. This version of Zwarte Piet became increasingly controversial b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Mythology
The mythology of the modern-day Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg has its roots in the mythologies of pre-Christian (e.g. Gaulish (Gallo-Roman) and Germanic) cultures, predating the region's Christianization under the influence of the Franks in the Early Middle Ages. At the time of the Roman Empire and in the Early Middle Ages, some of the resident peoples of the Low Countries' included: * Germanic tribes north of the Rhine River (with a lot of exceptions like the Eburones or the Celtic Nervii,...) * Low Franconians * Frisii (and later, in the same area, the Frisians) * Tubanti * Canninefates * Batavians * the decidedly more Celtic and Gallo-Roman Belgae tribes of Gallia Belgica south of the Rhine (also mainly but with many exceptions). Old Dutch mythology can mean the myths specifically told in Old Dutch language. However, many of the myths in this language are ancient and part of larger movements across Europe, such as Roman mythology that spread through the Roman Empire, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Companions Of Saint Nicholas
The companions of Saint Nicholas are a group of closely related figures who accompany Saint Nicholas throughout the territories formerly in the Holy Roman Empire or the countries that it influenced culturally. These characters act as a foil to the benevolent Christmas gift-bringer, threatening to thrash or abduct disobedient children. Jacob Grimm (''Deutsche Mythologie'') associated this character with the pre-Christian house spirit (kobold, elf) which could be benevolent or malicious, but whose mischievous side was emphasized after Germanic Christianity, Christianization. The association of the Christmas gift-bringer A number of Midwinter or Christmas traditions in European folklore involve gift-bringers. Mostly involving the figure of a bearded old man, the traditions have mutually influenced one another, and have adopted aspects from Christian hagiography, ... with elves has parallels in English and Scandinavian folklore, and is ultimately and remotely connected to the Chr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It is the Largest cities of the European Union by population within city limits, second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and its wikt:monocentric, monocentric Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area is the List of metropolitan areas in Europe by population, second-largest in the EU.United Nations Department of Economic and Social AffairWorld Urbanization Prospects (2007 revision), (United Nations, 2008), Table A.12. Data for 2007. The municipality covers geographical area. Madrid lies on the Manzanares (river), River Manzanares in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at about above mean sea level. The capital city of both Spain and the surrounding Community of Madrid, autonomous community of Madrid (since 1983), it is also th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweets
Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum, and sugar candy. Vegetables, fruit, or nuts which have been glazed and coated with sugar are said to be '' candied''. Physically, candy is characterized by the use of a significant amount of sugar or sugar substitutes. Unlike a cake or loaf of bread that would be shared among many people, candies are usually made in smaller pieces. However, the definition of candy also depends upon how people treat the food. Unlike sweet pastries served for a dessert course at the end of a meal, candies are normally eaten casually, often with the fingers, as a snack between meals. Each culture has its own ideas of what constitutes candy rather than dessert. The same food may be a candy in one culture and a dessert in another. History The word candy entered the Eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presents
A gift or present is an item given to someone (who is not already the owner) without the expectation of payment or anything in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is intended to be free. In many countries, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc., may sustain social relationships and contribute to social cohesion. Economists have elaborated the economics of gift-giving into the notion of a gift economy. By extension, the term ''gift'' can refer to any item or act of service that makes the other happier or less sad, especially as a favor, including forgiveness and kindness. Gifts are often presented on occasions such as birthdays and holidays. History Gift-giving has played a central role in social and economic systems throughout human history. Anthropologist Marcel Mauss argued in '' The Gift'' (1925) that gifts in archaic societies were embedded in systems of obligation, where the act of giving, receiving, and reciproc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Holidays In The Netherlands
The national holidays in the Netherlands are: While there are other holidays that are widely celebrated, these are not officially recognised national holidays. They are as follows: * While Saint Nicholas's Eve (the eve of Sinterklaas, also called ''Sinterklaasavond'' or ''Pakjesavond'') on 5 December is not a national holiday, it is widely celebrated. Saint Nicholas's traditional name day is on 6 December; it is however Saint Nicholas's Eve, the day before, which is the focus of celebrations in the Netherlands. * In the south and east of the Netherlands, Carnival is celebrated on the three days before Ash Wednesday. The earliest possible date is on 1 February, the latest possible date is 9 March. Though not an official holiday, many people, particularly in the south, take the week off to celebrate. Schools in both regions schedule their spring holiday at the same time. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of California Press
The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868. As the publishing arm of the University of California system, the press publishes over 250 new books and almost four dozen multi-issue journals annually, in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and maintains approximately 4,000 book titles in print. It is also the digital publisher of Collabra and Luminos open access (OA) initiatives. The press has its administrative office in downtown Oakland, California, an editorial branch office in Los Angeles, and a sales office in New York City, New York, and distributes through marketing offices in Great Britain, Asia, Australia, and Latin America. A Board consisting of senior officers of the University of Cali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1550–1600 In Fashion
Year 155 ( CLV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 908 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 155 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events * The Council of Rome, a pre-ecumenical church council, is held and presided over by Bishop of Rome Anicetus. Births * Cao Cao, Chinese statesman and warlord (d. 220) * Dio Cassius, Roman historian (d. c. 235) * Tertullian, Roman Christian theologian (d. c. 240) * Sun Jian, Chinese general and warlord (d. 191) Deaths * Pius I, Roman bishop * Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (b. AD 65 AD 65 ( LXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Nerva and Vestinus (or, less frequently, year 818 ''Ab urbe condita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackface
Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a global perspective that includes European culture and Western colonialism. Blackface became a global phenomenon as an outgrowth of theatrical practices of racial misrepresentation, racial impersonation popular throughout Britain and its colonial empire, where it was integral to the development of imperial racial politics. Scholars with this wider view may date the practice of blackface to as early as Medieval Europe's mystery plays when bitumen and coal were used to darken the skin of white performers portraying demons, devils, and damned souls. Still others date the practice to English Renaissance theatre, English Renaissance theater, in works such as William Shakespeare's ''Othello''. However, some scholars see blackface as a specific pract ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackamoor (decorative Arts)
Blackamoor is a type of figure and visual trope in European decorative art, typically found in works from the Early Modern period, depicting a man of sub-Saharan African descent, usually in clothing that suggests high status. Common examples of items and objects decorated in the blackamoor style include sculpture, jewellery, and furniture. Typically the sculpted figures carried something, such as candles or a tray. They were thus an exotic and lightweight variant for the "atlas" in architecture and decorative arts, especially popular in the Rococo period. The term "blackamoor" or "black moor" was once a general term for black people in English, "formerly without depreciatory force" as the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' puts it. The style is now viewed by some as racist and culturally insensitive. However, blackamoor pieces are still produced, mainly in Venice, Italy. Jewelry and decorative arts In jewelry, blackamoor figures usually appear in antique Venetian earrings, brace ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Schenkman
Jan Schenkman (born 1 October 1806 in Amsterdam, Netherlands - died 4 May 1863 in Amsterdam, Netherlands) was a Dutch teacher, poet, and author of books for children. He is best remembered for writing several traditional songs sung during the Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' (derive ... holidays. He also wrote the book '' Saint Nicholas and his Servant'' (1850). References {{DEFAULTSORT:Schenkman, Jan 19th-century Dutch poets 19th-century Dutch male writers Dutch children's writers Sinterklaas 1806 births 1863 deaths Dutch male poets Dutch male songwriters ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
