Netley Abbey is a ruined medieval monastery in the village of Netley
near Southampton in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1239
as a house for monks of the austere Cistercian order. Despite being a
royal abbey, Netley was never rich, produced no influential scholars or
churchmen, and its nearly 300-year history was quiet. The monks were
best known to their neighbours for the generous hospitality they
offered to travellers on land and sea. In 1536, Netley was closed by
Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the
building was converted into a mansion by William Paulet, a wealthy
Tudor politician. The abbey was used as a country house until the
beginning of the eighteenth century, after which it was abandoned and
partially demolished for building materials. Subsequently the ruins
became a tourist attraction, and provided inspiration to poets and
artists of the romantic movement. In the early twentieth century the
site was given to the nation, and it is now a Scheduled Ancient
Monument, cared for by English Heritage. The extensive remains consist
of the church, cloister buildings, abbot's house, and fragments of the
post-Dissolution mansion.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netley_Abbey>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1828:
Congress passed the largest tariff in United States history, which
resulted in severe economic hardship in the American South.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariff_of_1828>
1845:
Captain Sir John Franklin and his ill-fated Arctic expedition departed
from Greenhithe, England; the entire 129-man complement would be lost.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition>
1911:
Parks Canada, the world's first national park service, was established
as the Dominion Parks Branch under the Department of the Interior.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parks_Canada>
1997:
The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, which encompasses the most ecologically
diverse region in Mexico, was established as a result of grassroots
efforts.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Gorda>
2010:
In Bangkok, the Thai military concluded a week-long crackdown on
widespread protests by forcing the surrender of opposition leaders.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Thai_military_crackdown>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Ruritanian (adj):
1. Of or having the characteristics of adventure, romance, and
intrigue, as in works of romantic fiction.
2. Used to describe a fictitious and generic foreign government or
person, as used to state a general or hypothetical situation
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Ruritanian>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I wish to live because life has within it that which is good, that
which is beautiful and that which is love. Therefore, since I have
known all of these things, I have found them to be reason enough and —
I wish to live. Moreover, because this is so, I wish others to live for
generations and generations and generations.
--Lorraine Hansberry
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry>
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