Introduction to Courtyard: Spanish Testament of Courtyard

Spanish Testament is a 1937 book by Arthur Koestler, describing his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. Part II of the book was subsequently published on its own, with minor modifications, under the title Dialogue with Death (see below). Koestler made three trips to Spain during the civil war; the third time he was captured, sentenced to death and imprisoned by the Nationalist forces of General Franco. Koestler was at that time working on behalf of the Comintern and as an agent of the Loyalist Government's official news agency, using for cover accreditation to the British daily News Chronicle.

The book was published in London by Victor Gollancz Ltd. The 'Contents' of the book is in two parts: Part I describes the context in which he was captured, divided into IX chapters, each with its own title. Part II, titled Dialogue with Death, describes Koestler's prison experiences under sentence of death. This part was written in the late autumn of 1937 immediately after his release from prison, when the events were still vivid.

In the second volume of his autobiography The Invisible Writing, written by Koestler fifteen years later, the following footnote appears:

In all foreign editions, including the American, Dialogue with Death appeared as a self-contained book. In the original English edition, however (Gollancz and Left Book Club, 1937), it formed the second part of Spanish Testament the first part of which consisted of the earlier propaganda book on Spain that I had written for Muenzenberg. Spanish Testament is (and shall remain) out of print; Dialogue with Death has been reissued in England under that title, in the form in which it was originally written.

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Amenemhat was a Nubian official under Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III. He was chief of Teh-khet and was therefore a governor ruling a region in Lower Nubia for the Egyptian state. In the New Kingdom, Egyptian kings had conquered Lower Nubia. To secure control over the new region they appointed people of the local elite as governors. Teh-khet was a Nubian region that covered about Debeira and Serra. The local governors here formed a family, while the governor proper hold the title chief of Teh-khet.

Amenemhat is known from several monuments. A statue found at Buhen indicates, that he started his career as simple scribe under king Thutmosis I before he followed his brother in office. He was appointed in about the reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III. Amenemhat was the son of the chief of Teh-khet Ruiu, while his brother Djehutyhotep followed Ruiu in office and was followed then by Amenemhat himself.

Amenemhat's tomb was discovered on the West Bank of the Nile in the Debeira district. The tomb's superstructure included a mud brick built structure with a pyramid in the middle. Within the pyramid there was an offering chapel. In front of the pyramid was a courtyard. In the underground burial chambers were found different objects, including coffins and canopic jars. The latter bear the name Paitsy, this is the second name of Djehutyhotep; the brother of Amenememhat. Djehutyhotep might have been buried here.

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De Henriquez was born in Trieste to a father descended from Spanish noblemen of the Habsburg court in Vienna; her mother was of Turkish and Russian origin. She had one older brother, Diego, who went on to found the War Museum in Trieste. De Henriquez studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia under Arturo Martini.

As a teenager she was a member of the Fascist Youth Movement, but during the Second World War she worked with the partisan movement and helped escort Jewish refugees to safety. This was due in part to her father's denunciation in 1935 as an anti-Fascist, for refusing to Italianise his surname.

In 1949, she left Italy for England, and became a British citizen in 1953; she would live there for much of the rest of her life. However, she also returned often to her native Italy. In 1966, she purchased the ruinous hamlet of Peralta in Tuscany, and spent much time on its restoration as an artists' colony.

De Henriquez was born intersex with ambiguous genitalia, and declared herself "proud to be hermaphrodite" and "two people inside one body". She had a brief relationship with German painter Kurt Kramer in the 1940s, but her primary romantic and sexual relationships were with women. De Henriquez affected an offbeat style of dress; in his diaries, Christopher Isherwood described her as appearing "dressed like a male peasant in Cavalleria Rusticana and announcing that she had a love for life."

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The plot is based against a rural backdrop. Dayaram (Badal Das), an old man, in the hope to see a family flowering, had allowed Nilakanta (Saurav Hazarika) to settle down. Kalidas (Adil Hussain), a friend of Nilakanta, who had fallen for Ambika (Jaya Seal Ghosh) had informed Nilakanta that cupid had indeed struck. When Nilakanta informs Kalidas that he will soon be marrying Ambika, the gentleman in Kalidas ensures that he does not complicate matters and moves away on business.

But after her husband passes away, Ambika, struggles for survival and brings up her children and an infant doing the odd menial work in the village. Once, on her way back home, she captures timid four pigeons which make Ambika shed some of her timidity. Kalidas returns after long years to frequently spend long hours in Dayaram's courtyard. Dayaram dreams that Ambika hunger ends soon. He wants to play cupid this time. Ambika too is aware of Dayaram's intentions. One day when Kalidas asks "Were you aware that my mother had gone over to your place to scout for you as my bride?" Ambika is dumb struck. Dayaram weaves Ambika baskets to take the pigeons to the market. He ensures Kalidas accompanies her. Dusk falls. The pigeons remain unsold. Ambika does not disagree to Kalidas's proposal to buy the pigeons for a meal in her household. The flickers of the market lamps light up her face.

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The Chteau de Bressuire is a ruined castle in the town of Bressuire in the Deux-Svres dpartement of France.

The site has been inhabited continuously since the Celtic epoch. The castle was built on the site of an oppidum of the Gauls and was first documented in 1029, in a charter at Saint-Cyprien de Poitiers. It belonged to the Beaumont-Bressuire family until the start of the 16th century.

The castle is a fine example of medieval military architecture. In 1190, the castle consisted of an enceinte almost 700 metres around, with 38 towers circling the first fortress, itself defended by eight towers.

The visible remains date essentially from the end of the 12th and the start of the 13th century. The fortress included three enceintes, of which the outermost has now disappeared. The castle was broken up during the first half of the 18th century.

In 1441, Jacques de Beaumont became Seigneur de Bressuire. He converted the castle into a beautiful residence. From this time date the large building closing off the courtyard, that has mullion windows, splendid granite chimneys in the private rooms and an elegant gallery, all intended to show the refinement of the owner. The castle subsequently belonged to a number of families but its maintenance was ignored. In 1876, the building partly collapsed. The Bernard family bought the castle the same year. In 1880, a neo-Gothic chteau was built in the castle court, set back in relation to the former building.

The castle was acquired by the commune in 1975. It has been listed since 1996 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture.

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Aklo is the name of a fictional language that has been used by many authors from its first reference in 1899. The language is said to have mystical powers.

Aklo was first mentioned by Arthur Machen in his 1899 story "The White People". Aklo was mentioned but not described in detail by Machen, being noted in passing by the story's narrator as part of a secretive game or ritual.

H. P. Lovecraft admired the Machen story, and used Aklo in his Cthulhu Mythos stories "The Dunwich Horror" and "The Haunter of the Dark". The authors who have used Aklo have played into the fiction that the language has magical powers, and so have not included much detail to prevent "some careless reader from incanting a spell capable of calling forth evil".

In The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, Aklo appears as a language used in Black Masses and by the Illuminati.

Alan Moore later used Aklo in his Lovecraft tribute short story and 2003 comic The Courtyard, in his 2010 comic Neonomicon and again in Providence. In his adaptation, Aklo is not just an alien language, but a key that opens doors inside the human mind which is "connected to Moore's general view on actual magic and the role of words in modifying a human's perception of reality."

The Pathfinder RPG, published by Paizo, uses Aklo as the language of several subterranean, otherworldly, or otherwise Lovecraftian species in the game's universe, such as aboleths, gibbering mouthers, and shoggoths.non-primary source needed

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Haydarpaa High School housed in a monumental historic building from its establishment in 1934 until July 1984. The building was commissioned by Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (reigned 18761909) for use as the "Imperial Medicine School" (Ottoman Turkish: Mekteb-i Tbbiye-i ahane). It was designed by the French-Ottoman architect Alexander Vallaury (18501921) and the Italian architect Raimondo Tommaso D'Aronco (18571932). The construction began on February 11, 1895 and was completed in 1900. It was situated in the area between the 1828-built Selimiye Barracks and the Haydarpaa Military Hospital. The ceremonial opening took place on the birthday of the sultan on 15 Sha'ban AH 1321 (November 6, 1903).

The building, built on a 80,000m2 (860,000sqft) land, has a rectangular plan. It has a construction area of 24,000m2 (260,000sqft) with a courtyard of 80m 140m (260ft 460ft) inside. It is a two-story building with a basement. Aisles run on two floors of the building around the courtyard, and classrooms were situated at the outer sections in the south, west and north wings. The walls of the building were covered with granite plates brought from quarries in Hereke and Bilecik. Hydraulic lime, imported from Marseille, France, was used as lime mortar.

After merging of the civilian and military medicine education, the building became Haydarpaa Faculty of Medicine in 1909. The Faculty of Medicine moved to the European part of Istanbul after the 1933 University Reform. The building was handed over to the Ministry of National Education. It served half a century as Haydarpaa High School between 1934 and 1984. It became then Marmara University's Faculty of Medicine Haydarpaa Campus.