148-439: The Oxford Calculators were a group of 14th-century thinkers, almost all associated with Merton College , Oxford ; for this reason they were dubbed "The Merton School". These men took a strikingly logical and mathematical approach to philosophical problems. The key "calculators", writing in the second quarter of the 14th century, were Thomas Bradwardine , William Heytesbury , Richard Swineshead and John Dumbleton . Using
296-499: A mulberry tree planted in the early 17th century, an armillary sundial , an extensive lawn, a Herma statue, and the old Fellows' Summer House (now used as a music room and rehearsal space). Merton admits both undergraduate and graduate students. It admitted its first female students in 1980 and was the second former male college to elect a female head of house (in 1994). Merton has traditionally had single-sex accommodation for first-year undergraduates, with female students going into
444-853: A Christian in the event of victory against the Visigothic Kingdom , which was said to have guaranteed the battle. Clovis regained the southwest from the Visigoths and was baptised in 508. Clovis I was the first Germanic conqueror after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire to convert to Catholic Christianity; thus France was given the title "Eldest daughter of the Church" by the papacy, and French kings called "the Most Christian Kings of France". The Franks embraced
592-425: A European counterweight between American and Soviet spheres of influence. However, he opposed any development of a supranational Europe , favouring sovereign nations . The revolt of May 1968 had an enormous social impact; it was a watershed moment when a conservative moral ideal (religion, patriotism, respect for authority) shifted to a more liberal moral ideal (secularism, individualism, sexual revolution). Although
740-759: A combination of social, political and economic factors, which the Ancien Régime proved unable to manage. A financial crisis and social distress led in May 1789 to the convocation of the Estates General , which was converted into a National Assembly in June. The Storming of the Bastille on 14 July led to a series of radical measures by the Assembly, among them the abolition of feudalism , state control over
888-467: A controversial topic is Aristotle's Physics , Brawardine was able to make a simple, definite, and sophisticated mathematical rule for the relationship between speeds, powers, and resistances. Bradwardine's Rule was quickly accepted in the fourteenth century, first among his contemporaries at Oxford, where Richard Swineshead and John Dumbleton used it for solving sophisms, the logical and physical puzzles that were just beginning to assume and important place in
1036-569: A coup and civil war. During the May 1958 crisis , the weak Fourth Republic gave way to the Fifth Republic , which included a strengthened presidency. The war concluded with the Évian Accords in 1962 which led to Algerian independence , at a high price: between half a million and one million deaths and over 2 million internally-displaced Algerians. Around one million Pied-Noirs and Harkis fled from Algeria to France. A vestige of empire
1184-489: A member of the Oxford calculators in 1344. His main work was a series of treatises written in 1350. This work earned him the title of "The Calculator". His treatises were named Liber Calculationum , which means "Book of Calculations". His book dealt in exhaustive detail with quantitative physics and he had over fifty variations of Bradwardine 's law. John Dumbleton became a member of the calculators in 1338–39. After becoming
1332-509: A member, he left the calculators for a brief period of time to study theology in Paris in 1345–47. After his study there he returned to his work with the calculators in 1347–48. One of his main pieces of work, Summa logicae et philosophiae naturalis , focused on explaining the natural world in a coherent and realistic manner, unlike some of his colleagues, claiming that they were making light of serious endeavors. Dumbleton attempted many solutions to
1480-532: A period of economic prosperity and cultural and scientific flourishing known as the Belle Époque . France was one of the major participants of World War I , from which it emerged victorious at great human and economic cost. It was among the Allies of World War II , but it surrendered and was occupied in 1940. Following its liberation in 1944 , the short-lived Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in
1628-425: A right triangle's area would be equivalent to a rectangle's if the rectangle's height was half of the triangle's. This, and developing Al-Battani 's work on trigonometry is what led to the formulating of the mean speed theorem (though it was later credited to Galileo ) which is also known as "The Law of Falling Bodies". A basic definition of the mean speed theorem is; a body moving with constant speed will travel
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#17327727947461776-457: A score of 82.9. At the 'Time Ceremony', students dressed in formal academic dress walk backwards around the Fellows' Quad drinking port . Traditionally participants also held candles, but this practice has been abandoned in recent years. Many students have now adopted the habit of linking arms and twirling around at each corner of the quad. The alleged purpose of this tradition is to maintain
1924-430: A single simple rule to govern the relationship between moving and resisting powers and speeds that was both a brilliant application of mathematics to motion and also a tolerable interpretation of Aristotle's text. The initial goal of Bradwardine's Rule was to come up with a single rule in a general form that would show the relationship between moving and resisting powers and speed while at the same time precluded motion when
2072-518: A slightly different version of the Latin text of these verses is painted around Old Hall in Queens' College, Cambridge , and is "commonly in use at other Cambridge colleges". Merton alumni (Mertonians) and fellows have pursued careers in a variety of disciplines. Among the earliest people that have been claimed as Merton fellows are William of Ockham and Duns Scotus , outstanding academic figures from
2220-617: A special case. Arguments for the mean speed theorem (above) require the modern concept of limit , so Bradwardine had to use arguments of his day. Mathematician and mathematical historian Carl Benjamin Boyer writes, "Bradwardine developed the Boethian theory of double or triple or, more generally, what we would call 'n-tuple' proportion". Boyer also writes that "the works of Bradwardine had contained some fundamentals of trigonometry ". Yet "Bradwardine and his Oxford colleagues did not quite make
2368-560: A troubled existence, and the Secretary noted on 1 November 1900 a motion of censure 'against a person or persons unknown who were responsible for the undoubted blackness which is creeping over the Bodley Club.' Nevertheless, the club has continued in one form or another to the present day. Among the notable papers delivered to the Bodley Club are those by Frederic Harrison , Harold Henry Joachim , Henry Hamilton Fyfe (brother of
2516-636: Is a founding and leading member of the European Union and the eurozone , as well as a member of the Group of Seven , North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Francophonie . Originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire , the name France comes from the Latin Francia , or "realm of the Franks ". The name of
2664-433: Is illuminated by a lighting display representing three constellations that were visible on the night of 14 September 1264, the day the college was founded. The garden fills the southeastern corner of the old walled city of Oxford. The walls may be seen from Christ Church Meadows and Merton Field (now used by Magdalen College School, Oxford as a playing field for cricket, rugby, and football). The gardens are notable for
2812-481: Is not observed because the velocity does not equal zero when the resistance exceeds the force. Instead, he proposed a new theory that, in modern terms, would be written as (V ∝ log F/R), which was widely accepted until the late sixteenth century. William Heytesbury was a bursar at Merton until the late 1330s and he administered the college properties in Northumberland . Later in his life he
2960-593: Is now France date from approximately 1.8 million years ago. Neanderthals occupied the region into the Upper Paleolithic era but were slowly replaced by Homo sapiens around 35,000 BC. This period witnessed the emergence of cave painting in the Dordogne and Pyrenees , including at Lascaux , dated to c. 18,000 BC. At the end of the Last Glacial Period (10,000 BC),
3108-423: Is that it was the first college to be provided with statutes , a constitution governing the college set out at its founding. Merton's statutes date back to 1264, whereas neither Balliol nor University College had statutes until the 1280s. Merton has an unbroken line of wardens dating back to 1264. Of these, many had great influence over the development of the college. Henry Savile was one notable leader who led
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#17327727947463256-572: Is the French overseas departments and territories . During the Cold War , de Gaulle pursued a policy of "national independence" towards the Western and Eastern blocs . He withdrew from NATO's military-integrated command (while remaining within the alliance), launched a nuclear development programme and made France the fourth nuclear power . He restored cordial Franco-German relations to create
3404-486: Is the world's leading tourist destination , receiving 100 million foreign visitors in 2023 . A developed country , France has a high nominal per capita income globally , and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world . It is a great power , being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and an official nuclear-weapon state . France
3552-765: The francisca ), although these weapons may have been named because of their use by the Franks, not the other way around. In English, 'France' is pronounced / f r æ n s / FRANSS in American English and / f r ɑː n s / FRAHNSS or / f r æ n s / FRANSS in British English. The pronunciation with / ɑː / is mostly confined to accents with the trap-bath split such as Received Pronunciation , though it can be also heard in some other dialects such as Cardiff English . The oldest traces of archaic humans in what
3700-512: The 1973 oil crisis , which now accounts for 75 per cent of its electricity production and results in less pollution. According to the 2020 Environmental Performance Index conducted by Yale and Columbia , France was the fifth most environmentally conscious country in the world. Like all European Union state members, France agreed to cut carbon emissions by at least 20% of 1990 levels by 2020. As of 2009 , French carbon dioxide emissions per capita were lower than that of China. The country
3848-632: The 1995 public transport bombings , France has been targeted by Islamist organisations, notably the Charlie Hebdo attack in 2015 which provoked the largest public rallies in French history, gathering 4.4 million people, the November 2015 Paris attacks which resulted in 130 deaths, the deadliest attack on French soil since World War II and the deadliest in the European Union since
3996-607: The Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror added "King of England" to his titles, becoming vassal and the equal of the king of France, creating recurring tensions. The Carolingian dynasty ruled France until 987, when Hugh Capet was crowned king of the Franks . His descendants unified the country through wars and inheritance. From 1190, the Capetian rulers began to be referred as "kings of France" rather than "kings of
4144-591: The British Isles and Switzerland . The wars were ended by Henry IV 's Edict of Nantes , which granted some freedom of religion to the Huguenots. Spanish troops, assisted the Catholics from 1589 to 1594 and invaded France in 1597. Spain and France returned to all-out war between 1635 and 1659. The war cost France 300,000 casualties. Under Louis XIII , Cardinal Richelieu promoted centralisation of
4292-564: The Carnac stones site (approximately 3,300 BC). In 600 BC, Ionian Greeks from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (present-day Marseille ). Celtic tribes penetrated parts of eastern and northern France, spreading through the rest of the country between the 5th and 3rd century BC. Around 390 BC, the Gallic chieftain Brennus and his troops made their way to Roman Italy , defeated
4440-793: The Catholic Church in France , and a declaration of rights . The next three years were dominated by struggle for political control, exacerbated by economic depression . Military defeats following the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in April 1792 resulted in the insurrection of 10 August 1792 . The monarchy was abolished and replaced by the French First Republic in September, while Louis XVI
4588-609: The Consulate seized power in a coup led by Napoleon . Napoleon became First Consul in 1799 and later Emperor of the French Empire (1804–1814; 1815). Changing sets of European coalitions declared wars on Napoleon's empire . His armies conquered most of continental Europe with swift victories such as the battles of Jena-Auerstadt and Austerlitz . Members of the Bonaparte family were appointed monarchs in some of
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4736-853: The European Union (green) France , officially the French Republic , is a country located primarily in Western Europe . Its overseas regions and 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 , giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in
4884-855: The First French Empire . The collapse of the empire initiated a period of relative decline, in which France endured the Bourbon Restoration until the founding of the French Second Republic which was succeeded by the Second French Empire upon Napoleon III 's takeover. His empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. This led to the establishment of the Third French Republic , and subsequent decades saw
5032-1103: The Hercynian uplift in the Paleozoic Era , the Armorican Massif , the Massif Central , the Morvan , the Vosges and Ardennes ranges and the island of Corsica were formed. These massifs delineate several sedimentary basins such as the Aquitaine Basin in the southwest and the Paris Basin in the north. Various routes of natural passage, such as the Rhône Valley , allow easy communication. The Alpine, Pyrenean and Jura mountains are much younger and have less eroded forms. At 4,810.45 metres (15,782 ft) above sea level, Mont Blanc , located in
5180-622: The House of Plantagenet , rulers of the County of Anjou , established its dominion over the surrounding provinces of Maine and Touraine , then built an "empire" from England to the Pyrenees , covering half of modern France. Tensions between France and the Plantagenet empire would last a hundred years, until Philip II of France conquered, between 1202 and 1214, most continental possessions of
5328-755: The Madrid train bombings in 2004 . Opération Chammal , France's military efforts to contain ISIS , killed over 1,000 ISIS troops between 2014 and 2015. The vast majority of France's territory and population is situated in Western Europe and is called Metropolitan France . It is bordered by the North Sea in the north, the English Channel in the northwest, the Atlantic Ocean in the west and
5476-469: The Mediterranean Sea in the southeast. Its land borders consist of Belgium and Luxembourg in the northeast, Germany and Switzerland in the east, Italy and Monaco in the southeast, and Andorra and Spain in the south and southwest. Except for the northeast, most of France's land borders are roughly delineated by natural boundaries and geographic features: to the south and southeast,
5624-575: The North Sea . Its eighteen integral regions (five of which are overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km (248,573 sq mi) and have a total population of 68.4 million as of January 2024 . France is a semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls before Rome annexed
5772-521: The Popular Front government (e.g., annual leave , eight-hour workdays , women in government ). In 1940, France was invaded and quickly defeated by Nazi Germany . France was divided into a German occupation zone in the north, an Italian occupation zone and an unoccupied territory, the rest of France, which consisted of the southern France and the French empire. The Vichy government , an authoritarian regime collaborating with Germany, ruled
5920-665: The Royalists and used to house much of Charles I 's court when Oxford was the Royalists' capital. This included the King's French wife, Queen Henrietta Maria , who was housed in or near what is now the Queen's Room, the room above the arch between Front and Fellows' Quads. A portrait of Charles I hangs near the Queen's Room as a reminder of the role it played in his court. Brent gave evidence against Laud in his trial in 1644. After Laud
6068-488: The Seven Years' War (1756–1763). Its European territory kept growing, however, with acquisitions such as Lorraine and Corsica . Louis XV's weak rule, including the decadence of his court, discredited the monarchy, which in part paved the way for the French Revolution . Louis XVI (r. 1774–1793) supported America with money, fleets and armies , helping them win independence from Great Britain . France gained revenge, but verged on bankruptcy—a factor that contributed to
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6216-419: The Summa . He is critical of earlier philosophers in Part II as he believes latitudes are measurable and quantifiable and later in Part III of the Summa attempts to use latitudes to measure local motion. Roger Swineshead defines five latitudes for local motion being: First, the latitude of local motion, Second, the latitude of velocity of local motion, Third, the latitude of slowness of the local motion, Fourth,
6364-421: The Thirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign of Louis XIV . The French Revolution of 1789 overthrew the Ancien Régime and produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man , which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. France reached its political and military zenith in the early 19th century under Napoleon Bonaparte , subjugating part of continental Europe and establishing
6512-470: The official language of France and Europe's aristocracy. France became rivals of the House of Habsburg during the Italian Wars , which would dictate much of their later foreign policy until the mid-18th century. French explorers claimed lands in the Americas, paving expansion of the French colonial empire . The rise of Protestantism led France to a civil war known as the French Wars of Religion . This forced Huguenots to flee to Protestant regions such as
6660-663: The 1890s and was Secretary of the Myrmidon Club . Merton has also produced notable alumni and fellows in more recent times. In science, Merton is associated with four Nobel prize winners: chemist Frederick Soddy (1921), zoologist Nikolaas Tinbergen (1973), physicist Anthony Leggett (2003) and physicist Anton Zeilinger (2022). Other Mertonians in science include Canadian neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield , mathematician Andrew Wiles who proved Fermat's Last Theorem , computer scientist Tony Hoare , chemist George Radda , economist Catherine Tucker , geneticist Alec Jeffreys and cryptographer Artur Ekert . Notable Mertonians within
6808-459: The 1970s France faced an economic crisis and allowed new immigrants (mostly from the Maghreb , in northwest Africa) to permanently settle in France with their families and acquire citizenship. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of Muslims living in subsidised public housing and suffering from high unemployment rates. The government had a policy of assimilation of immigrants, where they were expected to adhere to French values and norms. Since
6956-402: The 200 years of the Crusades, in such a fashion that the Arabs referred to crusaders as Franj . French Crusaders imported French into the Levant , making Old French the base of the lingua franca ("Frankish language") of the Crusader states . The Albigensian Crusade was launched in 1209 to eliminate the heretical Cathars in the southwest of modern-day France. From the 11th century,
7104-420: The 4th century, a period of revival and prosperity. In 312, Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity . Christians, who had been persecuted, increased. But from the 5th century, the Barbarian Invasions resumed. Teutonic tribes invaded the region, the Visigoths settling in the southwest, the Burgundians along the Rhine River Valley, and the Franks in the north. In Late antiquity , ancient Gaul
7252-438: The Alps on the France–Italy border , is the highest point in Western Europe. Although 60% of municipalities are classified as having seismic risks (though moderate). The coastlines offer contrasting landscapes: mountain ranges along the French Riviera , coastal cliffs such as the Côte d'Albâtre , and wide sandy plains in the Languedoc . Corsica lies off the Mediterranean coast. France has an extensive river system consisting of
7400-457: The Atlantic Ocean. Other water courses drain towards the Meuse and Rhine along the northeastern borders. France has 11,000,000 km (4,200,000 sq mi) of marine waters within three oceans under its jurisdiction, of which 97% are overseas. France was one of the first countries to create an environment ministry, in 1971. France is ranked 19th by carbon dioxide emissions due to the country's heavy investment in nuclear power following
7548-509: The BBC and later CEO of the New York Times Company Mark Thompson , CEO of Stonewall Ben Summerskill and former CEO of Sony Howard Stringer are alumni. In law, Henry Litton served as one of the first Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong ( Hong Kong 's court of last resort ), while Brian Leveson was President of the Queen's Bench Division from 2013 to 2019 and Head of Criminal Justice. France – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in
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#17327727947467696-504: The Christian Gallo-Roman culture , and ancient Gaul was renamed Francia ("Land of the Franks"). The Germanic Franks adopted Romanic languages . Clovis made Paris his capital and established the Merovingian dynasty , but his kingdom would not survive his death. The Franks treated land as a private possession and divided it among their heirs, so four kingdoms emerged from that of Clovis: Paris, Orléans , Soissons , and Rheims . The last Merovingian kings lost power to their mayors of
7844-405: The Franks is related to the English word frank ("free"): the latter stems from the Old French franc ("free, noble, sincere"), and ultimately from the Medieval Latin word francus ("free, exempt from service; freeman, Frank"), a generalisation of the tribal name that emerged as a Late Latin borrowing of the reconstructed Frankish endonym * Frank . It has been suggested that
7992-420: The Franks". Later kings expanded their directly possessed domaine royal to cover over half of modern France by the 15th century. Royal authority became more assertive, centred on a hierarchically conceived society distinguishing nobility , clergy, and commoners . The nobility played a prominent role in Crusades to restore Christian access to the Holy Land . French knights made up most reinforcements in
8140-402: The French government's longtime historical association with the Catholic Church , Charlemagne tried to revive the Western Roman Empire and its cultural grandeur. Charlemagne's son, Louis I kept the empire united, however in 843, it was divided between Louis' three sons, into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia approximated the area occupied by modern France and
8288-548: The Latin text are based on verses 15 and 16 of Psalm 145 . Oculi omnium in te respiciunt, Domine. Tu das escam illis tempore opportuno. Aperis manum tuam, et imples omne animal benedictione tua. Benedicas nobis, Deus, omnibus donis quae de tua beneficentia accepturi simus. Per Jesum Christum dominum nostrum, Amen. Roughly translated it means: The eyes of the world look up to thee, O Lord. Thou givest them food in due season. Thou openest thy hand and fillest every creature with thy blessing. Bless us, O God, with all
8436-404: The Library in 1373–1378. But Merton's own Front Quad was probably enclosed earlier, albeit with a less unified design. Other colleges can point to similarly old and unaltered quadrangles, for example Old Court at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge , built c .1353–1377. The grandest quadrangle in Merton is the Fellows' Quadrangle, immediately south of the hall. The quad was the culmination of
8584-542: The Pyrenees and the Alps and the Jura, respectively, and to the east, the Rhine river. Metropolitan France includes various coastal islands, of which the largest is Corsica . Metropolitan France is situated mostly between latitudes 41° and 51° N , and longitudes 6° W and 10° E , on the western edge of Europe, and thus lies within the northern temperate zone. Its continental part covers about 1000 km from north to south and from east to west. Metropolitan France covers 551,500 square kilometres (212,935 sq mi),
8732-408: The Revolution. Some of the Enlightenment occurred in French intellectual circles, and scientific breakthroughs, such as the naming of oxygen (1778) and the first hot air balloon carrying passengers (1783), were achieved by French scientists. French explorers took part in the voyages of scientific exploration through maritime expeditions. Enlightenment philosophy, in which reason is advocated as
8880-405: The River in Summer Eights once; its men's 1st VIII held the headship in 1951. Merton's women have done better in recent years, gaining the headship in Torpids in 2003 and rowing over to defend the title in 2004. The college preprandial grace is amongst the longest in Oxford, and is always recited before formal dinners in Hall, usually by the senior postmaster present. The first two lines of
9028-461: The Romans in the Battle of the Allia , and besieged and ransomed Rome. This left Rome weakened, and the Gauls continued to harass the region until 345 BC when they entered into a peace treaty. But the Romans and the Gauls remained adversaries for centuries. Around 125 BC, the south of Gaul was conquered by the Romans, who called this region Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), which evolved into Provence in French. Julius Caesar conquered
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#17327727947469176-632: The Rose Lane buildings and most male students going into three houses on Merton Street . This policy was abandoned in 2007, with all accommodation now mixed by sex and course. Undergraduate admission to the college, like other Oxford colleges, is based solely on academic potential. In 2010, it was (incorrectly) reported that Merton had not admitted a black student in the previous five years. A university spokeswoman commented that black students were more likely to apply for particularly oversubscribed subjects. The university also reported that Merton had admitted at least one black undergraduate since 2005. Since
9324-510: The Two New Sciences with a theorem they enunciated. But Galileo went much further by linking mathematical abstraction tightly with experimental observation. The Oxford Calculators distinguished kinematics from dynamics , emphasizing kinematics, and investigating instantaneous velocity. It is through their understanding of geometry and how different shapes could be used to represent a body in motion. The Calculators related these bodies in relative motion to geometrical shapes and also understood that
9472-453: The UK stayed one hour ahead of GMT all year round. There are three toasts associated with the ceremony. The first is "to a good old time!"; the second, a joint toast to the sundial and the nearby mulberry tree ( morus nigra ), " o tempora, o more "; and the third, "long live the counter-revolution!". Merton is the only college in Oxford to hold a triennial winter ball , instead of the more common Commemoration ball . The most recent of these
9620-441: The United Kingdom in September and October 2022. Merton is one of the wealthiest colleges in Oxford and held funds totalling £298 million as of July 2020. Merton College was founded in 1264 by Walter de Merton , Lord Chancellor and Bishop of Rochester . It has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford, a claim which is disputed between Merton College, Balliol College and University College . One argument for Merton's claim
9768-426: The Warden, Nathaniel Brent , and the Visitor of Merton and Archbishop of Canterbury , William Laud . Brent had been Vicar-General to Laud, who had held a visitation of Merton College in 1638, and insisted on many radical reforms: his letters to Brent were couched in haughty and decisive language. Brent, a parliamentarian, moved to London at the start of the Civil War: the college's buildings were commandeered by
9916-515: The ancient structure has survived the successive reconstruction efforts; first by James Wyatt in the 1790s and then again by Gilbert Scott in 1874, whose work included the “handsome oak roof”. The hall is still used daily for meals in term time. It is not usually open to visitors. Front quad itself is probably the earliest collegiate quadrangle , but its informal, almost haphazard, pattern cannot be said to have influenced designers elsewhere. A reminder of its original domestic nature can be seen in
10064-401: The area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture . In the Early Middle Ages , the Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia , which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia evolving into the Kingdom of France . In the High Middle Ages , France was a powerful but decentralized feudal kingdom, but from
10212-489: The breakthrough to modern science." The most essential missing tool was algebra . A group known as the Oxford Calculators had begun applying mathematics to motion in the 1300s; in fact, Galileo begins his exposition of kinematics in the Two New Sciences with a theorem they enunciated. But Galileo went much further by linking mathematical abstraction tightly with experimental observation. Lindberg and Shank also wrote: In Book VII of Physics, Aristotle had treated in general
10360-401: The climate became milder; from approximately 7,000 BC, this part of Western Europe entered the Neolithic era, and its inhabitants became sedentary . After demographic and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia BC, metallurgy appeared , initially working gold, copper and bronze , then later iron . France has numerous megalithic sites from the Neolithic, including
10508-500: The club has changed form over the years, and was reformed in the 1980s as a speaker society. All members of the college, and usually members of the university as a whole, are invited to their events. The club began on 19 May 1894 (though it was not christened 'The Bodley Club' until June). The initial constitution contained a rule (Rule 7) which stated that 'a written paper is preferred, but any member may speak on any literary subject instead or may propose that any literary work be read at
10656-419: The college to flourish in the early 17th century by extending its buildings and recruiting new fellows. In 1333, masters from Merton were among those who left Oxford in an attempt to found a new university at Stamford . The leader of the rebels was reported to be one William de Barnby , a Yorkshireman who had been fellow and bursar of Merton College. St Alban Hall was an independent academic hall owned by
10804-442: The college. TS Eliot Lecture Theatre is a new lecture theatre named after T. S. Eliot , a former member of the college, opened in 2010. It has a bust of the writer by Jacob Epstein , presented by Frank Brenchley , a former member and Fellow of the college. Brenchley presented his collection of Eliot first editions and ephemera to the college, which is believed to be the second largest collection of such material worldwide. The foyer
10952-822: The constitutional July Monarchy ; French troops began the conquest of Algeria . Unrest led to the French Revolution of 1848 and the end of the July Monarchy. The abolition of slavery and introduction of male universal suffrage was re-enacted in 1848. In 1852, president of the French Republic, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte , Napoleon I's nephew, was proclaimed emperor of the Second Empire , as Napoleon III. He multiplied French interventions abroad, especially in Crimea , Mexico and Italy . Napoleon III
11100-487: The convent of Littlemore until it was purchased by Merton College in 1548 following the dissolution of the convent . It continued as a separate institution until it was finally annexed by the college in 1881, on the resignation of its last principal, William Charles Salter . During the English Civil War , Merton was the only Oxford college to side with Parliament . This was due to an earlier dispute between
11248-498: The course of the defeat in the Algerian War . The current Fifth Republic was formed in 1958 by Charles de Gaulle . Algeria and most French colonies became independent in the 1960s, with the majority retaining close economic and military ties with France . France retains its centuries-long status as a global centre of art , science , and philosophy . It hosts the fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and
11396-587: The early 14th century (however, these claims are disputed). Other early fellows include the Oxford Calculators , a group of 14th-century thinkers associated with Merton who took a logico-mathematical approach to philosophical problems. Theologian and philosopher John Wycliffe was another early fellow of the college. Founder of the Bodleian Library , Thomas Bodley , was admitted as fellow in 1564. Another significant figure, Henry Savile ,
11544-407: The east of the church which now form the north range of Front Quad. Walter also obtained permission from the king to extend from these properties south to the old city wall to form an approximately square site. The college continued to acquire other properties as they became available on both sides of Merton Street. At one time, the college owned all the land from the site that is now Christ Church to
11692-526: The empire, leaving England and Aquitaine to the Plantagenets. Charles IV the Fair died without an heir in 1328. The crown passed to Philip of Valois , rather than Edward of Plantagenet, who became Edward III of England . During the reign of Philip, the monarchy reached the height of its medieval power. However Philip's seat on the throne was contested by Edward in 1337, and England and France entered
11840-613: The ensuing uprising of European monarchies against his rule, Napoleon was defeated. About a million Frenchmen died during the Napoleonic Wars . After his brief return from exile, Napoleon was finally defeated in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo , and the Bourbon monarchy was restored with new constitutional limitations. The discredited Bourbon dynasty was overthrown by the July Revolution of 1830, which established
11988-967: The field of literature include poet T. S. Eliot , who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948, and author J. R. R. Tolkien who was Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton from 1945 to 1959. Jamaican-British Professor of Sociology Stuart Hall was a pioneer in the academic field of cultural studies and director of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies . Former students with careers as politicians include British politicians Reginald Maudling , Airey Neave , Jesse Norman , Ed Vaizey , Denis MacShane , Liz Truss and Peter Tapsell , while international alumni include Bob Krueger , former U.S. Senator from Texas , and Arthur Mutambara , former Deputy Prime Minister of Zimbabwe . In business, former Director-General of
12136-594: The forefront of the development of a supranational European Union , notably by signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, establishing the eurozone in 1999 and signing the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. France has fully reintegrated into NATO and since participated in most NATO-sponsored wars. Since the 19th century, France has received many immigrants , often male foreign workers from European Catholic countries who generally returned home when not employed. During
12284-912: The four major rivers Seine , the Loire , the Garonne , the Rhône and their tributaries, whose combined catchment includes over 62% of the metropolitan territory. The Rhône divides the Massif Central from the Alps and flows into the Mediterranean Sea at the Camargue . The Garonne meets the Dordogne just after Bordeaux, forming the Gironde estuary , the largest estuary in Western Europe which after approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) empties into
12432-624: The front quad were complete before the end of the 13th century. Mob Quad , one of Merton's quadrangles , was constructed between 1288 and 1378, and is claimed to be the oldest quadrangle in Oxford, while Merton College Library , located in Mob Quad and dating from 1373, is the oldest continuously functioning library for university academics and students in the world. Like many of Oxford's colleges, Merton admitted its first mixed-sex cohort in 1979, after over seven centuries as an institution for men only. Merton's second female warden, Irene Tracey ,
12580-603: The gifts which by thy good works we are about to receive. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Amen. For the relevant verses of the Psalm, the Authorized Version has: In contrast, Merton's post-prandial grace is brief: Benedictus benedicat ("Let him who has been blessed, give blessing"). The latter grace is spoken by the senior Fellow present at the end of dinner on High Table. At the University of Cambridge ,
12728-470: The integrity of the space–time continuum during the transition from British Summer Time to Greenwich Mean Time , which occurs in the early hours of the last Sunday in October. However, the ceremony (invented by two undergraduates in 1971) mostly serves as a spoof of other Oxford ceremonies, and historically as a celebration of the end of the experimental period of British Standard Time from 1968 to 1971 when
12876-492: The introduction of an official Norrington Table published by the university in 2004, Merton occupied one of the top three positions every year (often coming in 1st), until 2012 when it dropped to 14th. In 2014, it regained the first position, preserving its status as one of the most academically successful colleges of the last twenty years. In 2021, Merton was ranked Oxford's top college in the Norrington Table, with
13024-479: The largest among European Union members. France's total land area, with its overseas departments and territories (excluding Adélie Land ), is 643,801 km (248,573 sq mi), 0.45% of the total land area on Earth. France possesses a wide variety of landscapes, from coastal plains in the north and west to mountain ranges of the Alps in the southeast, the Massif Central in the south-central and Pyrenees in
13172-537: The latitude of the acquisition of the latitude of local motion, and the Fifth being, the latitude of the loss of the latitude of local motion. Each of these latitudes are infinite and are comparable to the velocity, acceleration, and deceleration of the local motion of an object. Thomas Bradwardine was born in 1290 in Sussex , England. An attending student educated at Balliol College, Oxford , he earned various degrees. He
13320-696: The latitude of things, most were refuted by Richard Swineshead in his Liber Calculationum . Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford ) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton , chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I , first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to support it. An important feature of de Merton's foundation
13468-499: The main kinematical properties of uniformly accelerated motions, still attributed to Galileo by the physics texts, were discovered and proved by scholars of Merton college.... In principle, the qualities of Greek physics were replaced, at least for motions, by the numerical quantities that have ruled Western science ever since. The work was quickly diffused into France , Italy , and other parts of Europe . Almost immediately, Giovanni di Casale and Nicole Oresme found how to represent
13616-466: The meaning "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul , only Franks were free of taxation, or more generally because they had the status of freemen in contrast to servants or slaves. The etymology of *Frank is uncertain. It is traditionally derived from the Proto-Germanic word * frankōn , which translates as "javelin" or "lance" (the throwing axe of the Franks was known as
13764-413: The meeting.' It was not long before this provision was required, as the minute-book reveals in its entry for 19 October 1894: 'Owing to unpardonable slackness on the part of members, the four months of vacation proved insufficient to collect coherent ideas on any particular subject...However an agreeable and instructive evening was passed in reading Tennyson's 'Maud'.' From early years the club has maintained
13912-486: The methods and results of the other Oxford Calculators spread to the continent over the next generation, appearing most notably at the University of Paris in the works of Albert of Saxony, Nichole Oreseme, and Marsilius of Inghen. Lawrence M. Principe wrote: A group known as the Oxford Calculators had begun applying mathematics to motion in the 1300s; in fact, Galileo begins his exposition of kinematics in
14060-601: The mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with England known as the Hundred Years' War . In the 16th century, the French Renaissance saw culture flourish and a French colonial empire rise. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the House of Habsburg and the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots . France was successful in
14208-715: The most notable being the Halsbury Society (Law) and the Chalcenterics (Classics). Other academic societies include the Neave Society, which aims to discuss and debate political issues, and the Bodley Club , founded in 1894 as a forum for undergraduate papers on literature but now a speaker society. The Bodley Club is a speaker society at Merton College, Oxford. Founded in 1894 as a forum in which undergraduates delivered academic papers on literature,
14356-647: The most-used language in diplomacy, science, and literature until the 20th century. France took control of territories in the Americas, Africa and Asia. In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes , forcing thousands of Huguenots into exile and published the Code Noir providing the legal framework for slavery and expelling Jews from French colonies. Under the wars of Louis XV (r. 1715–1774), France lost New France and most Indian possessions after its defeat in
14504-436: The moving power is less than or equal to the resisting power. Before Bradwardine decided to use his own theory of compounded ratios in his own rule he considered and rejected four other opinions on the relationship between powers, resistances, and speeds. He then went on to use his own rule of compounded ratios which says that the ratio of speeds follows the ratios of motive to resistive powers. By applying medieval ratio theory to
14652-458: The newly established kingdoms. These victories led to the worldwide expansion of French revolutionary ideals and reforms, such as the metric system , Napoleonic Code and Declaration of the Rights of Man. In 1812 Napoleon attacked Russia , reaching Moscow. Thereafter his army disintegrated through supply problems, disease, Russian attacks, and finally winter. After this catastrophic campaign and
14800-437: The north east corner where one of the flagstones is marked "Well". The quad is formed of what would have been the back gardens of the three original houses that Walter acquired in the 1260s. Visitors to Merton are often told that Mob Quad is the oldest quadrangle of any Oxford or Cambridge college and set the pattern for future collegiate architecture. It was built in three phases: 1288–1291, 1304–1311, and finally completed with
14948-507: The off-and-on Hundred Years' War . Boundaries changed, but landholdings inside France by English Kings remained extensive for decades. With charismatic leaders, such as Joan of Arc , French counterattacks won back most English continental territories. France was struck by the Black Death , from which half of the 17 million population died. The French Renaissance saw cultural development and standardisation of French, which became
15096-529: The origin of the concept. “Galen says, for instance, that there is a latitude of health which is divided into three parts, each in turn having some latitude. First, there is the latitude of healthy bodies, second the latitude of neither health nor sickness, and third the latitude of sickness.” The calculators attempted to measure and explain these changes in latitude concretely and mathematically. John Dumbleton discusses latitudes in Part II and Part III of his work
15244-631: The palace (head of household). One mayor of the palace, Charles Martel , defeated an Umayyad invasion of Gaul at the Battle of Tours (732). His son, Pepin the Short , seized the crown of Francia from the weakened Merovingians and founded the Carolingian dynasty . Pepin's son, Charlemagne , reunited the Frankish kingdoms and built an empire across Western and Central Europe . Proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III and thus establishing
15392-414: The parish church as well as the chapel until 1891. It is for this reason that it is generally referred to as Merton Church in older documents, and that there is a north door into the street as well as doors into the college. This dual role also probably explains the enormous scale of the chapel, which in its original design was to have a nave and two aisles extending to the west. A new choral foundation
15540-590: The part that faces onto Merton Street); the Grove building, built in 1864 by William Butterfield but "chastened" in the 1930s by T.H. Hughes ; the buildings beyond the Fellows' Garden called "Rose Lane"; several buildings north of Merton Street, including a real tennis court , and the Old Warden's Lodgings (designed by Champneys in 1903); and a new quadrangle in Holywell Street , some distance away from
15688-412: The philosophical and logical aspects than in natural world. They used numbers to disagree philosophically and prove the reasoning of "why" something worked the way it did and not only "how" something functioned the way that it did. Historian David C. Lindberg and professor Michael H. Shank in their 2013 book, Cambridge History of Science, Volume 2: Medieval Science, wrote: Like Bradwardine's theorem,
15836-631: The primary source of legitimacy , undermined the power of and support for the monarchy and was a factor in the Revolution. The French Revolution was a period of political and societal change that began with the Estates General of 1789 , and ended with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 and the formation of the French Consulate . Many of its ideas are fundamental principles of liberal democracy , while its values and institutions remain central to modern political discourse. Its causes were
15984-420: The real state of affairs forces one to deal with logical matters such as the analysis of the meaning of the statement in question, and the application of logical rules to specific cases. An example would be the statement, "The compound H 2 O is both a solid and a liquid". When the temperature is low enough this statement is true. But it may be argued and proven false at a higher temperature. In his time, this work
16132-553: The relation between powers, moved bodies, distance, and time, but his suggestions there were sufficiently ambiguous to give rise to considerable discussion and disagreement among his medieval commentators. The most successful theory, as well as the most mathematically sophisticated, was proposed by Thomas Bradwardine in his Treatise on the Ratios of Speeds in Motions. In this tour de force of medieval natural philosophy, Bradwardine devised
16280-586: The remainder of Gaul and overcame a revolt by Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix in 52 BC. Gaul was divided by Augustus into provinces and many cities were founded during the Gallo-Roman period , including Lugdunum (present-day Lyon ), the capital of the Gauls. In 250–290 AD, Roman Gaul suffered a crisis with its fortified borders attacked by barbarians . The situation improved in the first half of
16428-455: The results by geometrical graphs , introducing the connection between geometry and the physical world that became a second characteristic habit of Western thought ... In Tractatus de proportionibus (1328), Bradwardine extended the theory of proportions of Eudoxus to anticipate the concept of exponential growth , later developed by the Bernoulli and Euler , with compound interest as
16576-454: The revolt was a political failure (the Gaullist party emerged stronger than before) it announced a split between the French and de Gaulle, who resigned. In the post-Gaullist era, France remained one of the most developed economies in the world but faced crises that resulted in high unemployment rates and increasing public debt. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, France has been at
16724-486: The same distance as an accelerated body in the same period of time as long as the body with constant speed travels at half of the sum of initial and final velocities for the accelerated body. Its earliest known mention is found in Heytesbury's Rules for Solving Sophisms: a body uniformly accelerated or decelerated for a given time covers the same distance as it would if it were to travel for the same time uniformly with
16872-549: The second-largest behind the British Empire . Including metropolitan France, the total area reached almost 13 million square kilometres in the 1920s and 1930s, 9% of the world's land. Known as the Belle Époque , the turn of the century was characterised by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity and technological, scientific and cultural innovations. In 1905, state secularism was officially established . France
17020-446: The secretary, William), Northrop Frye , Alister Clavering Hardy , and Ronald Knox . Several of the club's first members went on to become significant figures, including Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell and William Hamilton Fyfe . Merton has a long-standing sporting relationship with Mansfield College , with the colleges fielding amalgamated sports teams for many major sports. In rowing, Merton College Boat Club has been Head of
17168-769: The slightly earlier works of Walter Burley , Gerard of Brussels , and Nicole Oresme , these individuals expanded upon the concepts of 'latitudes' and what real world applications they could apply them to. The advances these men made were initially purely mathematical but later became relevant to mechanics. Using Aristotelian logic and physics, they studied and attempted to quantify physical and observable characteristics such as: heat, force, color, density, and light. Aristotle believed that only length and motion were able to be quantified. But they used his philosophy and proved it untrue by being able to calculate things such as temperature and power. Although they attempted to quantify these observable characteristics, their interests lay more in
17316-534: The south-eastern corner of the city. The land to the east eventually became the current Fellows' garden, while the western end was leased by Warden Richard Rawlins in 1515 for the foundation of Corpus Christi (at an annual rent of just over £4). By the late 1280s, the old church of St John the Baptist had fallen into "a ruinous condition", and the college accounts show that work on a new church began in about 1290. The present choir , with its enormous east window,
17464-472: The southwest. Due to its numerous overseas departments and territories scattered across the planet, France possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, covering 11,035,000 km (4,261,000 sq mi). Its EEZ covers approximately 8% of the total surface of all the EEZs of the world. Metropolitan France has a wide variety of topographical sets and natural landscapes. During
17612-444: The speed of the middle instant of its motion, which is defined as its mean speed. Relative motion, also referred to as local motion, can be defined as motion relative to another object where the values for acceleration, velocity, and position are dependent upon a predetermined reference point. The mathematical physicist and historian of science Clifford Truesdell , wrote: The now published sources prove to us, beyond contention, that
17760-664: The state and reinforced royal power. He destroyed castles of defiant lords and denounced the use of private armies. By the end of the 1620s, Richelieu established "the royal monopoly of force". France fought in the Thirty Years' War , supporting the Protestant side against the Habsburgs. From the 16th to the 19th century, France was responsible for about 10% of the transatlantic slave trade . During Louis XIV 's minority, trouble known as The Fronde occurred. This rebellion
17908-461: The study of using mathematics to explain physical reality. Drawing on the work of Robert Grosseteste , Robert Kilwardby and Roger Bacon , his work was in direct opposition to William of Ockham . Aristotle suggested that velocity was proportional to force and inversely proportional to resistance, doubling the force would double the velocity but doubling the resistance would halve the velocity (V ∝ F/R). Bradwardine objected saying that this
18056-405: The undergraduate arts curriculum. The Latitude of Forms is a topic that many of the Oxford Calculators published volumes on. Developed by Nicole Orseme , a “Latitude" is an abstract concept of a range that forms may vary inside of. Before latitudes were introduced into mechanics, they were used in both medical and philosophical fields. Medical authors Galen and Avicenna can be given credit for
18204-530: The unoccupied territory. Free France , the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle , was set up in London. From 1942 to 1944, about 160,000 French citizens, including around 75,000 Jews , were deported to death and concentration camps . On 6 June 1944, the Allies invaded Normandy , and in August they invaded Provence . The Allies and French Resistance emerged victorious, and French sovereignty
18352-488: The work undertaken by Henry Savile at the beginning of the 17th century. The foundation stone was laid shortly after breakfast on 13 September 1608 (as recorded in the college Register), and work was complete by September 1610 (although the battlements were added later). The southern gateway is surmounted by a tower of the four Orders , probably inspired by Italian examples that Warden Savile would have seen on his European travels. The main contractors were from Yorkshire (as
18500-537: The world . Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north, Germany to the northeast, Switzerland to the east, Italy and Monaco to the southeast, Andorra and Spain to the south, and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and
18648-464: Was invaded by Germany and defended by Great Britain at the start of World War I in August 1914. A rich industrial area in the north was occupied. France and the Allies emerged victorious against the Central Powers at tremendous human cost. It left 1.4 million French soldiers dead, 4% of its population. Interwar was marked by intense international tensions and social reforms introduced by
18796-436: Was Savile); John Ackroyd and John Bentley of Halifax supervised the stonework, and Thomas Holt the timber. This group were also later employed to work on the Bodleian Library and Wadham College . Most of the other buildings are Victorian or later and include: St. Alban's Quad (or "Stubbins"), designed by Basil Champneys , built on the site of the medieval St Alban Hall (elements of the older façade are incorporated into
18944-422: Was a chancellor of Oxford. He was the first to discover the mean-speed theorem, later "The Law of Falling Bodies". Unlike Bradwardine's theory, the theorem, also known as "The Merton Rule" is a probable truth. His most noted work was Regulae Solvendi Sophismata (Rules for Solving Sophisms). Sophisma is a statement which one can argue to be both true and false. The resolution of these arguments and determination of
19092-521: Was a founding member of NATO and attempted to regain control of French Indochina , but was defeated by the Viet Minh in 1954. France faced another anti-colonialist conflict in Algeria , then part of France and home to over one million European settlers ( Pied-Noir ). The French systematically used torture and repression, including extrajudicial killings to keep control. This conflict nearly led to
19240-522: Was a secular cleric, a scholar, a theologist , a mathematician , and a physicist . He became chancellor of the diocese of London and Dean of St Paul's, as well as chaplain and confessor to Edward III. During his time at Oxford, he authored many books including: De Geometria Speculativa (printed in Paris, 1530), De Arithmetica Practica (printed in Paris, 1502), and De Proportionibus Velocitatum in Motibus (printed in Paris in 1495). Bradwardine furthered
19388-616: Was appointed Warden some years later in 1585 (held the position until 1621) and had great influence of the development of the college. William Harvey , who was the first to describe in detail the systemic circulation , was warden from 1645 to 1646. Lord Randolph Churchill , Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons (and father of Winston Churchill ), matriculated in October 1867, while Max Beerbohm , an English essayist, parodist , and caricaturist studied at Merton in
19536-414: Was appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2022, and Professor Jennifer Payne was subsequently elected as acting warden in 2022 and as warden in 2023. Alumni and academics past and present include five Nobel laureates , the writer J. R. R. Tolkien , who was Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 to 1959, and Liz Truss , who served as Prime Minister of
19684-524: Was complete by 1294. The window is an important example (because it is so well dated) of how the strict geometrical conventions of the Early English Period of architecture were beginning to be relaxed at the end of the 13th century. The south transept was built in the 14th century, the north transept in the early years of the 15th. The great tower was complete by 1450. The chapel replaced the parish church of St. John and continued to serve as
19832-471: Was completed. The chapel is known for its acoustics. A spire from the chapel has resided in Pavilion Garden VI of the University of Virginia since 1928, when "it was given to the University to honor Jefferson 's educational ideals." The hall is the oldest surviving college building, originally completed before 1277, but apart from the fine medieval ironwork on the door, almost no trace of
19980-681: Was divided into Germanic kingdoms and a remaining Gallo-Roman territory. Celtic Britons , fleeing the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain , settled in west Armorica ; the Armorican peninsula was renamed Brittany and Celtic culture was revived. The first leader to unite all Franks was Clovis I , who began his reign as king of the Salian Franks in 481, routing the last forces of the Roman governors in 486. Clovis said he would be baptised
20128-531: Was driven by feudal lords and sovereign courts as a reaction to the royal absolute power . The monarchy reached its peak during the 17th century and reign of Louis XIV. By turning lords into courtiers at the Palace of Versailles , his command of the military went unchallenged. The "Sun King" made France the leading European power. France became the most populous European country and had tremendous influence over European politics, economy, and culture. French became
20276-522: Was established in 2007, providing for a choir of sixteen undergraduate and graduate choral scholars singing from October 2008. The choir was formerly directed by Peter Phillips , director of the Tallis Scholars , and is now directed by Benjamin Nicholas, a former director of music at Tewkesbury Abbey . In 2013, the installation of a new organ, designed and built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders ,
20424-749: Was executed in January 1793. After another revolt in June 1793 , the constitution was suspended and power passed from the National Convention to the Committee of Public Safety . About 16,000 people were executed in a Reign of Terror , which ended in July 1794 . Weakened by external threats and internal opposition, the Republic was replaced in 1795 by the Directory . Four years later in 1799,
20572-438: Was executed on 10 January 1645, John Greaves , one of the subwardens of Merton and Savilian Professor of Astronomy , drew up a petition for Brent's removal from office; Brent was deposed by Charles I on 27 January 1646 and replaced by William Harvey . Thomas Fairfax captured Oxford for the Parliamentarians after its third siege in 1646 and Brent returned from London. However, in 1647, a parliamentary commission (visitation)
20720-402: Was held on 26 November 2022. Merton has a number of drinking and dining societies, along the lines of other colleges. These include the all-male Myrmidons , the female-equivalent Myrmaids and L'Ancien Régime. The Myrmidon club is open to all members of the college in the present day, male or female, and hosts termly black tie events. Merton is host to a number of subject-specific societies,
20868-414: Was its precursor. During the 9th and 10th centuries, threatened by Viking invasions , France became a decentralised state: the nobility's titles and lands became hereditary, and authority of the king became more religious than secular, and so was less effective and challenged by noblemen. Thus was established feudalism in France. Some king's vassals grew so powerful they posed a threat to the king. After
21016-479: Was logically advanced. He was a second generation calculator. He built on Richard Klivingston's "Sophistimata and Bradwardine's "Insolubilia". Later, his work went on to influence Peter of Mantura and Paul of Venice . Richard Swineshead was also an English mathematician , logician , and natural philosopher . The sixteenth-century polymath Girolamo Cardano placed him in the top-ten intellects of all time, alongside Archimedes , Aristotle , and Euclid . He became
21164-411: Was not until the mid-1260s that Walter de Merton acquired the core of the present site in Oxford, along the south side of what was then St John's Street (now Merton Street ). The college was consolidated on this site by 1274, when Walter made his final revisions to the college statutes. The initial acquisition included the parish church of St John (which was superseded by the chapel) and three houses to
21312-453: Was restored with the Provisional Government of the French Republic (GPRF). This interim government, established by de Gaulle, continued to wage war against Germany and to purge collaborators from office . It made important reforms e.g. suffrage extended to women and the creation of a social security system. A new constitution resulted in the Fourth Republic (1946–1958), which saw strong economic growth ( les Trente Glorieuses ). France
21460-608: Was set to impose a carbon tax in 2009; however, the plan was abandoned due to fears of burdening French businesses. Forests account for 31 per cent of France's land area—the fourth-highest proportion in Europe—representing an increase of 7 per cent since 1990. French forests are some of the most diverse in Europe, comprising more than 140 species of trees. France had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 4.52/10, ranking it 123rd globally. There are nine national parks and 46 natural parks in France. A regional nature park (French: parc naturel régional or PNR)
21608-520: Was set up by Parliament "for the correction of offences, abuses, and disorders" in the University of Oxford. Nathaniel Brent was the president of the visitors. Greaves was accused of sequestrating the college's plate and funds for King Charles I . Despite a deposition from his brother Thomas , Greaves had lost both his Merton fellowship and his Savilian chair by 9 November 1648. The "House of Scholars of Merton" originally had properties in Surrey (in present-day Old Malden ) as well as in Oxford, but it
21756-408: Was that this "college" was to be self-governing and the endowments were directly vested in the Warden and Fellows. By 1274, when Walter retired from royal service and made his final revisions to the college statutes, the community was consolidated at its present site in the south east corner of the city of Oxford , and a rapid programme of building commenced. The hall and the chapel and the rest of
21904-404: Was unseated following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and his regime replaced by the Third Republic . By 1875, the French conquest of Algeria was complete, with approximately 825,000 Algerians killed from famine, disease, and violence. France had colonial possessions since the beginning of the 17th century, but in the 19th and 20th centuries its empire extended greatly and became
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