Empires of the World: The Papal States

Ah, welcome back to Empires of the World - a grand tour of all of the major civilizations of the world. In celebration of the Pope's resignation, today we look at the Papal States.

At its Peak

As their name suggests, the Papal states were the territory that was controlled directly by the Pope. Centered around Rome, the Papal states began in the sixth century when the Byzantines invaded Italy. As the Byzantine Empire weakened the Pope gradually took over control of their Italian territories.

The Papal States are in Red.

During the Renaissance the territories expanded, led by "Warrior Pope" Julius II. The Papal states became one of the largest territories in the Italian peninsula and the states stretched into four modern day countries; Italy, France, Vatican City and San Marino.

Demise

The French Revolution led to the invasion of Italy by Napoleon and the loss of the Papal States. They were restored in 1814 following the fall of Napoleon but this proved only temporary as nationalism had been stoked in the peninsular. The Papal States were invaded by Italy in 1870 and Rome was declared the capital of the new nation.

Today

The Pope signed a treaty with Benito Mussolini in 1929, creating the Vatican City State. At only 44 hectares, Vatican City is the smallest nation in the world.

News in a minute: 1 March 2013

Welcome to Friday 1 March 2013, the time is Seven, roughly.

Today's headline story; Muriwai Beach will reopen tomorrow, Saturday, following Wednesday's Shark Attack. The Horrific, Scary and Totally Unprovoked Shark Attack occurred on Wednesday to a Muriwai Local, a person who was just like you and me. All comments on media Sensationalism aside, pretty freaky huh? Also, here's an article encouraging us to refer to them as encounters instead of attacks. Meanwhile, Wellington acts as if it's never seen dolphins before.

In world news the Pope's resignation took effect this morning (NZT), leaving the Church in a rush to get a new one in place before Easter. Like all good bureaucracies, the Vatican is an expert at rule bending and getting what it wants. Therefore, I'd expect that we will see the white smoke coming out of the chimney sooner rather than later. In other world news, Corporal Bradley Manning has pleaded guilty to some of the more minor charges he was facing and is looking at 20 years in prison. He still may, however, face prosecution for "aiding the enemy" - which is a bit like Treason, but also isn't...apparently.

And finally, in sports, the world's media (including stuff.co.nz who think it's frontpage news) is falling all over Lauren Silberman as she becomes the first female to try out for a NFL team this week. Of course her chances of making one of the 32 teams is zero, and that's not just because she is missing a penis: she didn't kick for a college team and comes from a football (er...soccer) background. Kickers are never drafted anyway, why kick the ball when you can throw it?

Lauren Silberman: Credible draft choice?

Alright, that's us. Thank you for reading and remember:

Better Living everyone!

Echo Golf Golf Sierra

Eggs. We all love them, they're delicious (and easy to cook!). Most of the eggs we humans eat are chicken eggs, chickens were domesticated from Jungle fowl in subtropical southern Asia around 7500 BCE. I bet us humans have eaten a hell of a lot of chicken eggs since then.

The egg carton was invented in Canada in 1911. A wonderful invention, the egg carton holds eggs. Usually six or twelve. Sometimes ten.

You can cook eggs many different ways. You can boil them, fry them or even scramble them. To scramble them though you probably need to add some extra ingredients. Like milk and butter.

Because Americans are weird, the United States Department of Agriculture classifies eggs as meat. The USDA also recommends refrigerating eggs to prevent the growth of Salmonella. Good advice.

Did you know that? I didn't. That's a lot of eggs. Oracle Team USA are the current holders of the America's Cup. They won the cup in 2010 after a long legal battle resulted in their super huge trimaran defeating Alinghi's slightly smaller catamaran. Despite being held in the dead of night (NZ Time), the races were phreakin' amazing to watch, with the trimaran spending most of the race with only one hull in the water and at times sailing four times faster than the wind speed. Awesome.

The Cup is named after the first yacht to win it, America. The New York Yacht Club won the first race in 1851, making this the oldest active international trophy in sport. When the NYYC finally lost the cup in 1983 it ended the longest winning streak in sport.

Oracle Team USA will defend the cup later this year. Three challengers will compete for the right to face them; Artemis Racing from Sweden, Luna Rossa from Italy and Team New Zealand from RIGHT HERE IN LITTLE OL' NEW ZEALAND. We are going to kick some arse. I can't wait.

Breaking News: Pope's resignation causes Mass confusion.

In breaking news, the Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City and Servant of the Servants of God has announced his resignation from the positions. Also known as Pope Benedict XVI (real name Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger) he will become the first pope since 1294 to resign voluntarily when he does so at 8am on 28 February 2013. Despite original reports that he was resigning to work as a marketing director for Satan, it can now be confirmed that he will retire to the Collegiate Church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Italy.

German-born, the future pope was conscripted into the Hitler Youth during the War before joining the Church in 1945. In 1981 he was appointed to a position in the Vatican City and became one of Pope John Paul II’s closest confidents. He was elected Pope on 19 April 2009 following John Paul’s death. Regarded as a traditionalist or fundamentalist, Benedict has suffered deteriorating health and reportedly has trouble walking. He was recently advised by doctors to avoid long flights.

Pope Benedict XVI checking out his favourite blog; Dinosaurs and Dandelions.

The election of a new pope is done by Jesus Christ himself. Prior to this, a Papal Conclave consisting of all of the Cardinals under 80 years of age convenes to make a recommendation. There are currently estimated to be 118 eligible Cardinals, of which ten are talked about as frontrunners for the position. The Cardinals are all locked into the Sistine Chapel until they can decide on a candidate. After each election, and they may vote continuously until someone “wins”, the ballots are burned. Dark smoke signals to the world that the election didn’t have a winner while White smoke signals that a new pope has been elected. Benedict himself was elected under rules requiring only a simple majority (50%+1) however now a supermajority (75%) is required. This means that this years conclave could be a long one, potentially frustrating the Church’s wish to have a new Pope elected in time for Easter.