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John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston (; 1 February 1550 – 4 April 1617), nicknamed Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish landowner known as a mathematician, physicist, and astronomer. He was the 8th Laird of Merchiston. His Latinized name was Ioannes Neper. John Napier is best known as the discoverer of logarithms. He also invented the so-called "Napier's bones" and made common the use of the decimal point in arithmetic and mathematics. Napier's birthplace, Merchiston Tower in Edinburgh, is now part of the facilities of Edinburgh Napier University. There is a memorial to him at St Cuthbert's at the west side of Edinburgh. Life Napier's father was Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston Castle, and his mother was Janet Bothwell, daughter of the politician and judge Francis Bothwell, and a sister of Adam Bothwell who became the Bishop of Orkney. Archibald Napier was 16 years old when John Napier was born. There are no records of Napier's early education, but many believe that he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merchiston Castle
Merchiston Tower, also known as Merchiston Castle, was probably built by Alexander Napier, the 2nd Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier. It was the home of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inventor of logarithms, who was born there in 1550. The tower stands at the centre of Edinburgh Napier University's Merchiston campus. History The lands surrounding the castle were acquired before 1438 by Alexander Napier (1st Laird of Merchiston), and remained in the Napier family for most of the following five centuries. Merchiston Castle was probably built as a country house, but its strategic position and the turbulent political situation required it to be heavily fortified – with some walls as much as six feet thick – and it was frequently under siege. During restoration in the 1960s, a 26-pound cannonball was found embedded in the Tower, thought to date from the struggle in 1572 between Mary, Queen of Scots, and supporters of her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latinisation Of Names
Latinisation (or Latinization) of names, also known as onomastic Latinisation, is the practice of rendering a ''non''-Latin name in a Latin style. It is commonly found with historical proper names, including personal names and toponyms, and in the standard binomial nomenclature of the life sciences. It goes further than romanisation, which is the transliteration of a word to the Latin alphabet from another script (e.g. Cyrillic). For authors writing in Latin, this change allows the name to function grammatically in a sentence through declension. In a scientific context, the main purpose of Latinisation may be to produce a name which is internationally consistent. Latinisation may be carried out by: * transforming the name into Latin sounds (e.g. for ), or * adding Latinate suffixes to the end of a name (e.g. for '' Meibom),'' or * translating a name with a specific meaning into Latin (e.g. for Italian ; both mean 'hunter'), or * choosing a new name based on some attribut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), describing the city "with its Castle and Palace and the royal mile between", and was further popularised as the title of a guidebook by R. T. Skinner published in 1920, "''The Royal Mile (Edinburgh) Castle to Holyrood(house)''". The Royal Mile runs between two significant locations in the royal history of Scotland: Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace. The name derives from it being the traditional processional route of monarchs, with a total length of approximately one Scots mile, a now obsolete measurement measuring 1.81km. The streets which make up the Royal Mile are (west to east) Castlehill, the Lawnmarket, the High Street, the Canongate and Abbey Strand. The Royal Mile is the busiest tourist street in the Old Town, rivalled only ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gartness, Stirling
Gartness is a hamlet in Stirling council area, Stirling, Scotland. It is located 1.8 miles/2.9 km from Killearn and 3.1 miles/5 km from Drymen. Most pupils attend Killearn Primary School and senior pupils attend Balfron High School. The Endrick Water passes through the hamlet. In 1572, John Napier had an estate at Gartness with his second wife, Agnes Chisholm. Etymology The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic ''Gart an Easa'', which means "enclosed field by the stream". Facilities Whilst the hamlet has no facilities, there is an honesty shop serving walkers on the famous West Highland Way, and Drymen Camping, a campsite along the road towards Drymen, also directly on the trail. References External links Vision of Britain - Gartness [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics, and history, and sometimes involving neighbouring countries. The demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. The official capital of Flanders is the City of Brussels, although the Brussels-Capital Region that includes it has an independent regional government. The powers of the government of Flanders consist, among others, of economic affairs in the Flemish Region and the community aspects of Flanders life in Brussels, such as Flemish culture and education. Geographically, Flanders is mainly flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea. It borders the French department of Nord to the south-west near the coast, the Dutch provinces of Zeeland, North Brabant an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its Metropolitan France, metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin (island), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Salvator's College, St Andrews
St Salvator's College was a college of the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. Founded in 1450, it is the oldest of the university's colleges. In 1747 it merged with St Leonard's College, St Andrews, St Leonard's College to form United College, St Andrews, United College. History St Salvator's College was founded in 1450 by James Kennedy (bishop), James Kennedy, Bishop of St Andrews. King James II of Scotland had provided an endowment at the college's foundation and this allowed the training of ten students. Several of the original medieval buildings survive, including the college chapel, tower, tenement building (adjoining to the west of tower, actually older than the adjoining tower, but much restored) and the Hebdomadar's building. The dramatic west tower was built in the 1460s with the upper part of the spire being remodelled in 1851 by the Edinburgh architect Robert Matheson (architect), Robert Matheson.Buildings of Scotland: Fife by John Gifford In 15 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merchiston Castle
Merchiston Tower, also known as Merchiston Castle, was probably built by Alexander Napier, the 2nd Laird of Merchiston around 1454. It serves as the seat for Clan Napier. It was the home of John Napier, the 8th Laird of Merchiston and the inventor of logarithms, who was born there in 1550. The tower stands at the centre of Edinburgh Napier University's Merchiston campus. History The lands surrounding the castle were acquired before 1438 by Alexander Napier (1st Laird of Merchiston), and remained in the Napier family for most of the following five centuries. Merchiston Castle was probably built as a country house, but its strategic position and the turbulent political situation required it to be heavily fortified – with some walls as much as six feet thick – and it was frequently under siege. During restoration in the 1960s, a 26-pound cannonball was found embedded in the Tower, thought to date from the struggle in 1572 between Mary, Queen of Scots, and supporters of her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishop Of Orkney
The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics of Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. The bishopric appears to have been suffragan of the Archbishop of York (with intermittent control exercised by the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen) until the creation of the Archbishopric of Trondheim ('' Niðaros'') in 1152. Although Orkney itself did not unite with mainland Scotland until 1468, the Scottish kings and political community had been pushing for control of the islands for centuries. The see, however, remained under the nominal control of Trondheim until the creation of the Archbishopric of St Andrews in 1472, when it became for the first time an officially Scottish bishopric. The Bishopric's links with Rome ceased to exist after the Scottish Reformation. The bishopric continued, saving temporary abolition between 1638 and 1661, unde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam Bothwell
Adam Bothwell, Lord of Session (c.1527, Edinburgh – 1593, Edinburgh), was a Scottish clergyman, judge, and politician. He served as Bishop of Orkney (1559), Commendator of Holyrood House (1570), Extraordinary Lord of Session (1563–4), and as an Ordinary Lord of Session (1565). He was also a Member of the Privy Council. Bothwell was a Commissioner to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots with Francis, the Dauphin of France. He later conducted the marriage of Mary to the Earl of Bothwell (1567), crowned the infant James VI (1567), and accompanied the Regent Moray to the Conference of York and Westminster in 1568. Bothwell converted to Protestantism at the Reformation. He was briefly imprisoned at Stirling Castle in 1578. He held charters of the baronies of Alhammer or Whitekirk (1587–8) and Brighouse, in the Sheriffdom of Linlithgow (1592). He is interred at Holyrood Abbey. Life Bothwell was the son of Francis Bothwell, Lord of Session. His mother, according to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Bothwell
Francis Bothwell of Edinburgh, Lord of Session, was a Scottish merchant, landowner, judge and politician. As a university graduate, he was called ''Master Francis Bothwell'', or "Dominus" in Latin documents; however, this has been misunderstood by some writers, so he is occasionally, inaccurately, referred to as "Sir" Francis Bothwell. Career The elder son of Richard Bothwell, a Provost of Edinburgh during the reign of James III, Francis served as Procurator (1513–14) of the Scottish Nation at the University of Orléans in France, and was appointed a Burgess of Edinburgh in 1515, and Provost of Edinburgh in 1525. Francis Bothwell was a Burgh Commissioner, for Edinburgh, in the parliaments of 1524, 1525, 1526, 1528, 1531, 1532 and 1535. He served as Lord Auditor of Causes, Lord of the Articles, and was one of the first Lords of Session when the College of Justice was founded on 27 May 1532. For his service in the first year of the Session, Francis was paid £133-6s-8d. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archibald Napier (landowner)
Sir Archibald Napier (1534 – 15 May 1608) was a Scottish landowner and official, master of the Scottish mint and seventh Laird of Merchiston. Early life He was eldest son of Alexander Napier, sixth of Merchiston, who was killed at the battle of Pinkie in 1547. His mother was Annabella, youngest daughter of Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenurchy. His paternal grandfather was Alexander Napier, fifth of Merchiston, who was killed at the battle of Flodden in 1513. Archibald was infeft in the barony of Edenbellie as heir to his father on 8 November 1548, a royal dispensation enabling him, though a minor, to feudalise his right to his paternal barony in contemplation of his marriage with Janet Bothwell, which took place about 1549. Napier began to clear his property of encumbrances. On 1 June 1555 he redeemed his lands of Gartnes, Stirlingshire, and others from Duncan Forester, and on 14 June 1558 he obtained a precept of sasine for infefting him in the lands of Blairwaddis, Isle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
