document_title: Rizzoli & Isles

question_text: who plays rizzoli's mother on rizzoli & isles

question_tokens: who plays rizzoli 's mother on rizzoli & isles

text: Rizzoli & Isles

text: Premise[edit]

text: The series' backstory is inspired by the Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli series of novels by Tess Gerritsen. Rizzoli appears in the series' first novel, The Surgeon, and Isles is introduced in the second, The Apprentice, which serves as the basis for the television series. Boston detective Jane Rizzoli has been investigating a serial killer named Charles Hoyt. Hoyt, who was banned from medical school for fondling a corpse, used his vast medical knowledge to systematically torture and kill people, usually choosing couples so that he could induce the most fear in his victims. Jane ascertains Hoyt's location, but as she is searching for him, she is hit in the back of the head and knocked unconscious. She is pinned to the floor by scalpels and awakes as Hoyt prepares to cut her throat, but Vince Korsak, Jane's partner, locates her and shoots Hoyt, saving her life. Jane, reasoning that Korsak would never trust her as his partner after seeing her so vulnerable, applies for a new partner.

text: The series pilot, "See One. Do One. Teach One", is largely based on the novel The Apprentice. Jane and medical examiner Maura Isles investigate a killer with Hoyt's modus operandi plus an interest in necrophilia. Jane and Maura discover that the copycat was John Stark (Brendan McCarthy), a soldier who met Hoyt in medical school, had his identity erased for CIA black operations, and mimicked Hoyt's MO in a killing spree during said operations. Meanwhile, Hoyt escapes from prison and rejoins his apprentice to continue in his killing. Later, Jane's home is broken into, and she is told by someone posing as part of BPD that her neighbor had been killed; she rushes into the van to see the body but finds Hoyt instead. Hoyt and his apprentice knock her out and kidnap her. When she wakes up they attempt to kill her, but she manages to disarm them by Tasing them and burning Hoyt's eye with a flare. In self-defense, she shoots the apprentice to death, and, when Hoyt reaches for her gun, she shoots him through the hands, giving him injuries similar to the ones he gave her.

text: New twists are introduced when Jane and Maura discover that a recent murder victim is actually Maura's previously unknown half-brother, resulting in her discovery that her father is notorious criminal Patrick Doyle.

text: Hoyt returns 18 months later through another apprentice, Lola, in "I'm Your Boogie Man". Having murdered Lola's abusive husband two years earlier, Hoyt uses her Stockholm syndrome to his advantage and uses her to stalk Jane. Lola seduces and captures Frankie Rizzoli before tying Jane up. She plans to kidnap Jane until Hoyt can escape from prison, but Jane manages to distract Lola long enough for Frankie to kill Lola with her own revolver.

text: Hoyt returns again when he arranges for another inmate to be stabbed while he is dying of cancer, luring Jane into the prison so that he can taunt her about another unsolved murder he committed. While speaking to Jane in the prison infirmary, Hoyt tells her to look at what he is reading—Tess Gerritsen's novel The Silent Girl. Although she manages to find the bodies of his victims—the family of an old college professor of Hoyt's who was unaware of his expulsion—Hoyt, aided by a third apprentice, manages to capture Jane and Maura, only to have Jane beat Hoyt and then stab him when he and his apprentice try to kill Maura.

text: Production[edit]

text: The untitled project was on TNT's development slate as early as March 2008.[3] In October 2009, TNT placed a cast-contingent pilot order under the original title, Rizzoli.[4][5] The pilot script was written by Janet Tamaro. Angie Harmon was the first actress cast, taking the title role of police detective Jane Rizzoli.[6] Sasha Alexander won the role of medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles after auditioning with Harmon.[7] Bruce McGill signed as Rizzoli's former partner, Sgt. Vince Korsak.[8] Lee Thompson Young was cast as her new partner, Barry Frost.[8] The role of Rizzoli's younger brother Frankie was filled by Jordan Bridges.[8] Lorraine Bracco signed on as Rizzoli's mother, Angela.[9] In early 2010, Billy Burke was announced as FBI agent Gabriel Dean.[10]

text: In late January 2010, TNT green-lighted the pilot to series with the new title Rizzoli & Isles.[10][11] Ten episodes were ordered and the show premiered on July 12, 2010.[10][12] The series is produced on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood, California.[13] Owing to a sponsorship deal between MillerCoors and Turner Broadcasting for the summer 2010 season, the series included product placement for MGD 64, including billboards in the backgrounds of some scenes.[14][15] The first season was additionally sponsored by Vonage. After having aired three episodes in 2010, the series was renewed for a second season,[16] which aired from July 11 to December 26, 2011. In August 2011, TNT ordered a third season, which aired from June 5 through December 25, 2012.[17] On June 29, 2012, TNT ordered a fourth season, which aired from June 25, 2013, through March 18, 2014.[18][19][20] On December 9, 2014, TNT renewed Rizzoli & Isles for an 18-episode sixth season.[21][22]

text: In August 2013, production on the fourth season was suspended when cast member Lee Thompson Young was found dead at his Los Angeles apartment from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[23] In the second half of the fifth season, a new character, crime scene analyst Nina Holiday, played by Idara Victor, was introduced. Series executive producer Jan Nash stated that Nina would not replace Young's character, Frost, but is her own character. Instead, the existing characters were given "new dynamics", according to Nash. For example, Jane and Korsak work more cases together, and Frankie is more involved and has more access.[24]

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text: Main characters[edit]

text:
Jane Clementine Rizzoli (Angie Harmon): a Boston detective in the Homicide Unit. From an Italian American family, Jane is brash, sarcastic, and often prickly but also a confident and independent woman as well as a brilliant detective. She is the tomboy daughter of an overprotective mother. She is extremely competitive, especially with her younger brother, Frankie (also a cop), who is often caught in her shadow. Jane can tackle a perp like a linebacker. She rarely lets her guard down with anyone, except her best friend, Maura Isles. She is something of a slob; her apartment has been shown on several occasions to be quite messy, and in one episode she claimed to have just opened a box of cereal five years after originally buying it. As a child, she was slightly chubby, earning her the nickname "Roly-Poly Rizzoli". She mentioned in one episode that she played field hockey as an attacker in junior college. She is the eldest Rizzoli sibling,[25] and graduated from high school in 1994, which puts Jane's birth year at 1976.[26] She is hopeless with men and allergic to dogs, but she winds up taking in Jo Friday, a stray dog rescued by her former partner, Korsak. Raised in the blue-collar Boston suburb of Revere, Jane has fought long and hard to win the respect of her colleagues, but it is her relationship with her equally stubborn mother, Angela Rizzoli, that sometimes proves to be her biggest headache. During her time on the force, she had a traumatic experience at the hands of a serial killer known as "The Surgeon", Charles Hoyt. While trying to rescue one of his victims, she was taken by surprise from behind and almost became a victim herself. She has matching scars in the center of her palms where Hoyt stabbed her with scalpels, keeping her pinned to the ground. Her original partner, Vince Korsak, saved her life, and Jane survived the brutal, near-death attack by Hoyt. Although she put Hoyt behind bars, she is still haunted by him. She learned that she was pregnant at the end of season four, owing to a liaison with her old boyfriend Casey, but lost the baby midway through the fifth season when she was attacked while protecting a key witness in a case. In the final season, Jane takes a new job as an instructor at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and works her final case with the Boston PD in the series finale, "Ocean-Frank".
Dr. Maura Dorothea Isles (Sasha Alexander): the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Chief Medical Examiner. Isles is a forensic expert working at the Boston Police Department. She is Jane's best friend. Maura is a walking encyclopedia, able to spout out facts regardless of whether or not they are relevant to a case. She has a pet tortoise named Bass, after noted forensic anthropologist William M. Bass. Maura is not easily ruffled and has a steady temperament. She absolutely loves examining dead bodies, but she has a tendency to diagnose living people a little too often. She is the adopted only child of a wealthy family. In high school, she was nicknamed "Maura-The-Bore-A" because her classmates thought she was boring. She is always impeccably dressed and is known around the force as "Queen of the Dead"; her ring tone on Jane's phone appropriately plays Chopin's "Funeral March". Maura is the complete opposite of Jane, though they are best friends; Rizzoli is more of a tomboy, while Maura always looks like she is going to a fashion shoot rather than to the morgue or a crime scene. Though Maura is socially awkward and has trouble with men because of her brutal honesty and habit of revealing all their medical conditions, she is not awkward around Jane. She can analyze x-rays and blood chemistries and can slice open muscles and organs but possesses no scalpel with which to dissect human emotions. Maura also cannot lie; if she does, she breaks out in hives. It is later revealed that her biological father is an Irish crime boss named Paddy Doyle, something she finds out while investigating her half-brother's death. She finds out in the episode "What Doesn't Kill You" (3.1) that her father told her biological mother that she died on the day she was born, August 7, 1976. She subsequently visited a cemetery containing a gravestone with the name "Baby Maura Doyle" on it. In the series finale, "Ocean-Frank", Maura takes a sabbatical from the ME's office to go to Paris, France, and work on her novel.
Angela Rizzoli (Lorraine Bracco): Jane, Frankie and Tommy's overbearing mother. Angela is fiercely protective of her children, saying she has not slept since Jane decided to become a cop. Angela wishes Jane could be a little more feminine and is constantly trying to set her up on dates. After her divorce, she spent some time working in the precinct's café, and dated Lieutenant Cavanagh, but she quit the job and broke up with Cavanagh when she decided that she needed to re-evaluate her life. She currently works at the bar that Vince Korsak bought and that they all frequent.
Vincent "Vince" Walter Korsak (Bruce McGill): Rizzoli's former partner. The two maintain a close bond after years of working together, but Korsak is clearly bothered that he is no longer partnered with Jane. He seems to care for her like a daughter and is nearly as protective of her as Angela is. It is revealed in the series pilot that he saved her life from Hoyt. He will drop whatever he is doing on a moment's notice to rescue an animal, and enjoys watching videos of dogs on the Internet. After remaining a detective for nearly his entire career, Korsak was finally promoted to sergeant-detective in season two, and took the lieutenant's exam in season five. In preparing for retirement, Vince bought the local bar that they all frequent, the Dirty Robber, and employed Angela. He was a US Marine and served during the Vietnam War. Korsak has been divorced 3 times, despite the jokes that he is behind the times he is very wise and observant. He also has several hobbies including playing guitar and sailing, Maura has even once before asked him for his expertise on seaman knots and skills. In the series finale, "Ocean-Frank", Korsak retires from the Boston PD after a thirty-two year career.

text: Barold "Barry" Frost (Lee Thompson Young) (Seasons 1-4): Rizzoli's second partner. A whiz when it comes to computers and technology, he is terrified of dead bodies and becomes ill at the sight of blood. He is very protective of Jane and stands by her like a loyal, tough partner. In the season five premiere, he is killed in a car accident while returning from vacation. In the season five finale, the team establish the Barry Frost Memorial Scholarship, intended for students who are academically gifted and seek to go into professions that would help others but lack the resources to do so.

text:
Francesco "Frankie" Rizzoli, Jr. (Jordan Bridges): Jane's brother and police officer. He looks up to Jane, but does not like feeling caught in her shadow, especially as he tries to make his own way on the police force. Like all the men in Jane's life, Frankie is more protective of Jane than she would like. He is a cop against his mother's wishes, and sees his sister as a role model. In season four, Frankie is promoted to detective and starts taking night classes in computer science in season five to increase his skill set in Frost's absence. In season seven, he begins a romantic relationship with Nina and eventually successfully proposes to her.
Sean Cavanaugh (Brian Goodman) (Seasons 3-4, main; 1-2, 5, recurring): the lieutenant of the Boston PD's Homicide Unit. Fiercely loyal to Jane and an old friend of Korsak, Sean is willing to bend the rules for his guys. It is later discovered that Sean lost his wife and son in a fire (set by Paddy Doyle) back when he and Korsak were rookies.
Nina Holiday (Idara Victor) (Seasons 6-7, main; 5, recurring): a crime scene analyst and computer technician. Formerly a detective, Holiday transferred to Boston Homicide in order to hone her analytical skills in an office-based environment.[27] Following her being shot in the sixth-season finale, Frankie Rizzoli begins a romantic relationship with her and later successfully proposes to her in the seventh.
Dr. Kent Drake (Adam Sinclair) (Season 7, main; 6, recurring): a lab technician, and Maura's new assistant starting in the sixth season. In the series finale, "Ocean-Frank", Kent is set to oversee the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Medical Examiner's Office during Maura's sabbatical.

text: Recurring cast and characters[edit]

text:
Annabeth Gish as Alice Sands. Alice was born into a distinguished law enforcement family, but she dropped out of the police academy while Jane was enrolled. Alice was second in her class behind Jane, after having been the best at everything prior to then. This created her dangerous fixation on Jane, which led to Alice inserting herself into a circle of tunnel residents and having them do her bidding. Following a shootout at Korsak's wedding reception, Jane seems to make a personal vendetta against Alice. Jane ultimately corners Alice, who has taken a teenager hostage, and shoots her dead. This leaves her team to wonder if Jane shot her in the line of duty or an act of vengeance.
Tina Huang as Susie Chang, the senior criminalist of the Boston Police Department's crime laboratory. She has described herself as having a very physical memory; when circumstances required her to take point in an investigation, she made various dioramas to explain her reasoning. In the third-season episode "Class Action Satisfaction", she is revealed to be a nudist. She was killed in the sixth-season episode "Misconduct" as part of a complex plan to frame the forensics department for poor handling of a recent case, but the subsequent investigation exposed the killer's true agenda.
Donnie Wahlberg as Lieutenant Joe Grant, an old rival of Jane's who has known her since childhood. He constantly made fun of her, calling her "Frog-Face" and "Roly-Poly Rizzoli" because she was slightly chubby when she was younger. When he leaves for Washington, DC after being appointed as the liaison between Boston and Homeland Security, he claims that he had liked her for a very long time.
John Doman as Patrick "Paddy" Doyle, an Irish-American crime boss and biological father and protector of Maura Isles. Paddy claimed Maura had died as a baby and made sure she was adopted.[28]
Jacqueline Bisset as Constance Isles, a visual artist and the adoptive mother of Dr. Maura Isles. She loves Maura but is sorry that they don't have a close relationship.
Colin Egglesfield as Thomas "Tommy" Rizzoli: the youngest brother of Jane and Frankie; he is the youngest of the Rizzoli kids, arrested for running a priest over at a crosswalk on his third DUI violation. He returns to the family fold following his release from prison. As of the season two episode "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", he is 32 years old. He tries to kiss Maura when he comes back to pay her back for her kindness, but she stops him and he develops a huge crush on Maura as he works on starting a new life.[29]
Chris Vance as Charles (Casey) Jones, an old flame of Jane's during high school, reunited with Jane during season two. A US Army officer assigned to the Middle East, he returns to Boston in season three but breaks up with Jane because of injuries that left him partially paralyzed below the waist. He returns in season four's first episode after a successful operation and proposes to Jane, but when he receives the offer of a promotion to colonel, he decides to stay in the army, leaving Jane behind as she was unwilling to leave her life. He is aware that Jane was pregnant with his child, but respects her decision to raise the child alone as he had also made the choice to return to the army; she loses the baby midway through the fifth season after being attacked while protecting a witness.
Darryl Alan Reed as Rondo, a man with access to information in the criminal world. Although Jane initially dismisses his offer to be her confidential informant, he does become her informant later on and is currently providing Jane with information from the criminal world. He has also been shown to have a comical character persona, similar to Larry Laffer. He frequently hits on Jane, calling her "Vanilla", and eventually develops a friendship with Angela, referring to her as "Mrs. Vanilla". He is revealed to be an ex–jazz singer in "This Is How a Heart Breaks".
Billy Burke as Gabriel Dean, an FBI agent often seen working with the Boston Homicide detectives and Medical Examiner's Office. He later becomes romantically involved with Detective Jane Rizzoli, but she ends this relationship when he tries to use her as part of a plan to capture Paddy Doyle that forced Jane to shoot Paddy.
Chazz Palminteri as Francesco "Frank" Rizzoli Sr. – Jane, Frankie, and Tommy's father. He owns and runs a plumbing business called Rizzoli and Sons. He and Angela separate and then divorce after the first series. He later tries to have their marriage annulled so that he can remarry in a Catholic ceremony. He returns to announce he has stage 2 prostate cancer, and, despite the news, his family finds it difficult to overlook his past transgressions.
Matthew Del Negro as Giovanni Gilberti, a dim-witted former classmate of Jane's and a blue-collar auto mechanic. He is under the impression that Maura and Jane are dating, which Maura came up with in order to save the two of them from Giovanni's advances.
Michael Massee as Charles Hoyt, a former serial killer who stabbed Jane in both hands and continued to threaten Jane, even from behind bars. Hoyt appears in many episodes, including "See One, Do One, Teach One" (episode 1), "I'm Your Boogie Man", and "Remember Me". In the episode "See One, Do One, Teach One", Hoyt and the apprentice he went to medical school with kidnap Jane. Jane shoots and kills the apprentice and throws a flare at Hoyt. Jane then shoots him in the hands and says, "We match". In the episode "Remember Me", Hoyt, despite dying of cancer, lures Jane and Maura into his hospital room with the aid of a new apprentice with the goal of killing Jane before he dies, but Jane manages to get the upper hand and stabs and kills Hoyt with a scalpel while saying, "I win". Despite his death, he continues to haunt Jane and the team and was mentioned in the next two seasons after his death; when dealing with the murders committed by Dennis Rockmond ("Melt My Heart of Stone"), Jane speculates that he may be an apprentice of Hoyt's due to the ritualistic nature of his crimes, and "No One Mourns the Wicked" saw the team deal with a forensic pathologist and her son (conceived by her father's abuse) who were committing murders inspired by Hoyt's methods.
Sharon Lawrence as Hope Martin, Maura's biological mother, who believed Maura died as a baby. She is a noted forensic pathologist.
Emilee Wallace as Cailin Martin, Hope's daughter and Maura's half-sister. Maura anonymously donated her kidney to Cailin to save her life.
Alexandra Holden as Lydia Sparks, a ditzy young woman who is heavily pregnant when she is befriended by Angela. It is soon revealed that the child she is carrying is either Tommy's or Angela's ex-husband Frank's. Eventually the child is known as TJ, for "Tommy Junior", once a test confirms that Tommy is the father.
Jaz Sinclair as Tasha Williams.

text: Broadcast[edit]

text: Rizzoli & Isles started to air on GEM in Australia on 000000002010-11-29-0000November 29, 2010.[30] The series started to air on Super Channel in Canada on 000000002010-10-05-0000October 5, 2010.[31] As of 2016, Superchannel is no longer carrying the show.

text: The series moved to Showcase in Canada on 000000002012-01-03-0000January 3, 2012, on TVNorge in Norway on 000000002010-11-11-0000November 11, 2010, M-Net Series in South Africa on 000000002011-09-14-0000September 14, 2011, and on Warner TV in Singapore on 000000002011-02-01-0000February 1, 2011.[32]

text: Rizzoli & Isles started to air on Alibi in the United Kingdom on 000000002011-09-13-0000September 13, 2011. A subscription is required.[32][33] The series second season premiered on 000000002012-01-26-0000January 26, 2012.[32]

text:
Season
Time slot (EST)
Number of episodes
Premiere
Finale
TV season
Overall rank
Overall viewership

Date
Viewers
(millions)
18–49 Rating
Date
Viewers
(millions)
18–49 Rating

1

Monday 10:00 pm

10

July 12, 2010

7.55[34]
2.1[34]

September 13, 2010

6.56[35]
1.5[35]
2010
N/A
N/A

2
15

July 11, 2011

6.38[36]
1.2[36]

December 26, 2011

5.79[37]
1.1[37]
2011
N/A
N/A

3

Tuesday
9:00 pm

15

June 5, 2012

5.62[38]
1.2[38]

December 25, 2012

4.42[39]
0.8[39]
2012
#3[40]
7.40[40]

4
16

June 25, 2013

6.64[41]
1.4[41]

March 18, 2014

3.58[42]
0.7[42]
2013–14
N/A
N/A

5
18

June 17, 2014

5.81[43]
1.0[43]

March 17, 2015

3.62[44]
0.6[44]
2014–15
N/A
N/A

6
18

June 16, 2015

4.39[45]
0.7[45]

March 15, 2016

2.92[46]
0.5[46]
2015–16
N/A
N/A

7

Monday 9:00 pm

13

June 6, 2016

3.91[47]
0.6[47]

September 5, 2016

5.26[48]
0.7[48]
2016
TBA
TBA

text: Reception[edit]

text: The series started strong in the ratings, as 7.55 million viewers tuned in for the premiere episode. Rizzoli & Isles was the second most-watched cable program on the evening of July 12, 2010, behind its lead-in, The Closer, which had 110,000 more viewers.[49] The show finished the week in third behind The Closer and the final episode of Deadliest Catch.[50]

text: The premiere set a record as the highest-rated debut for a commercial-supported cable series, and it was the second-highest debut ever for a basic cable TV series.[51][52] Rizzoli & Isles is second only to the 2008 premiere of Raising the Bar, which attracted 7.7 million viewers during its commercial-free debut.[52][53][54] Live + 7 day ratings for the premiere updated the show's status as the all-time most-watched cable series launch, with DVR viewers increasing the show's rating to just over 9 million viewers.[55]

text: The show has ranked in the top five cable programs all five seasons and was the number one basic cable program in its fifth season.[56]

text: The show has been described as having lesbian undertones,[57][58][59] and the purported sexual attraction between Rizzoli and Isles has been the subject of critical and fan attention,[60][61][62][59][63] with sites such as The Advocate connecting the show's lesbian subtext to its popularity.[64] Harmon said that she was not surprised by the attention[65] and that, while it was "'super fun' to play a role that has some same-sex romantic vibes", the characters are "straight" and "just best friends".[60] Alexander said that she was not initially aware of the subtext but believed it reflected the characters' chemistry.[66] She also expressed skepticism that Rizzoli and Isles' friendship was out of the ordinary.[67]

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Association
Category
Recipient(s)
Result

2012
Young Artist Awards
Best Performance in a TV Series – Guest Starring Young Actor 18–21
Cameron Monaghan
Nominated

2014
People's Choice Awards
Favorite Cable TV Actress
Angie Harmon
Nominated

2015
Favorite Cable TV Actress
Angie Harmon
Won

Favorite Cable TV Drama
Rizzoli & Isles
Nominated

2016
Favorite Cable TV Actress
Sasha Alexander
Won


document_title: Taj Mahal

question_text: the inscriptions on the exterior of the taj mahal were designed by

root

text: Taj Mahal

text: Inspiration

text: The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess who died giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum.[6] Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632.[7] The imperial court documenting Shah Jahan's grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrate the love story held as the inspiration for Taj Mahal.[8][9] The principal mausoleum was completed in 1643 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished about five years later.[10]

tag: p

text: Architecture and design

text: The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand),[11] Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.[12]

text: Tomb

text: The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. It is a large, white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.[13]

text: The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an unequal eight-sided structure that is approximately 55 metres (180 ft) on each of the four long sides.  Each side of the iwan is framed with a huge pishtaq or vaulted archway with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level.[14]

text: The most spectacular feature is the marble dome that surmounts the tomb. The dome is nearly 35 metres (115 ft) high which is close in measurement to the length of the base, and accentuated by the cylindrical "drum" it sits on which is approximately 7 metres (23 ft) high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome or amrud (guava dome).[15] The top is decorated with a lotus design which also serves to accentuate its height. The shape of the dome is emphasised by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners, which replicate the onion shape of the main dome. The dome is slightly asymmetrical.[16] Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial which mixes traditional Persian and Hindustani decorative elements.

text: The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of gilded bronze in the early 19th century. This feature provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements.[17] The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif whose horns point heavenward.[18]

text: The minarets, which are each more than 40 metres (130 ft) tall, display the designer's penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minarets—a traditional element of mosques, used by the muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The chattris all share the same decorative elements of a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. The minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.

text: Exterior decorations

text:
The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes, the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.
Throughout the complex are passages from the Qur'an that comprise some of the decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that the passages were chosen by Amanat Khan.[19][20]

text: The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you."[20] The calligraphy was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq. Shah Jahan conferred the title of "Amanat Khan" upon him as a reward for his "dazzling virtuosity".[21] Near the lines from the Qur'an at the base of the interior dome is the inscription, "Written by the insignificant being, Amanat Khan Shirazi."[22] Much of the calligraphy is composed of florid thuluth script made of jasper or black marble[21] inlaid in white marble panels. Higher panels are written in slightly larger script to reduce the skewing effect when viewed from below. The calligraphy found on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is particularly detailed and delicate.

text: Abstract forms are used throughout, especially in the plinth, minarets, gateway, mosque, jawab and, to a lesser extent, on the surfaces of the tomb. The domes and vaults of the sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms. Herringbone inlays define the space between many of the adjoining elements. White inlays are used in sandstone buildings, and dark or black inlays on the white marbles. Mortared areas of the marble buildings have been stained or painted in a contrasting colour which creates a complex array of geometric patterns. Floors and walkways use contrasting tiles or blocks in tessellation patterns.

text: On the lower walls of the tomb are white marble dados sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of the carvings.  The dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and levelled to the surface of the walls.[21]

text: Interior decoration

text: The interior chamber of the Taj Mahal reaches far beyond traditional decorative elements.  The inlay work is not pietra dura, but a lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones.[23] The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, although only the door facing the garden to the south is used.  The interior walls are about 25 metres (82 ft) high and are topped by a "false" interior dome decorated with a sun motif. Eight pishtaq arches define the space at ground level and, as with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a second pishtaq about midway up the wall.[24] The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas, and each balcony's exterior window has an intricate screen or jali cut from marble. In addition to the light from the balcony screens, light enters through roof openings covered by chattris at the corners. The octagonal marble screen or jali bordering the cenotaphs is made from eight marble panels carved through with intricate pierce work. The remaining surfaces are inlaid in delicate detail with semi-precious stones forming twining vines, fruits and flowers.  Each chamber wall is highly decorated with dado bas-relief, intricate lapidary inlay and refined calligraphy panels which reflect, in miniature detail, the design elements seen throughout the exterior of the complex.[25]

text: Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves. Hence, the bodies of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan were put in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right, towards Mecca. Mumtaz Mahal's cenotaph is placed at the precise centre of the inner chamber on a rectangular marble base of 1.5 by 2.5 metres (4 ft 11 in by 8 ft 2 in). Both the base and casket are elaborately inlaid with precious and semiprecious gems. Calligraphic inscriptions on the casket identify and praise Mumtaz. On the lid of the casket is a raised rectangular lozenge meant to suggest a writing tablet. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is beside Mumtaz's to the western side, and is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wife's, but reflects the same elements: a larger casket on a slightly taller base precisely decorated with lapidary and calligraphy that identifies him. On the lid of the casket is a traditional sculpture of a small pen box.[24]

text: The pen box and writing tablet are traditional Mughal funerary icons decorating the caskets of men and women respectively. The Ninety Nine Names of God are calligraphic inscriptions on the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal.  Other inscriptions inside the crypt include, "O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious... ". The tomb of Shah Jahan bears a calligraphic inscription that reads; "He travelled from this world to the banquet-hall of Eternity on the night of the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab, in the year 1076 Hijri."[26]

text: Garden

text:
The complex is set around a large 300-metre (980 ft) square charbagh or Mughal garden.
The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. Halfway between the tomb and gateway in the centre of the garden is a raised marble water tank with a reflecting pool positioned on a north-south axis to reflect the image of the mausoleum. The raised marble water tank is called al Hawd al-Kawthar in reference to the "Tank of Abundance" promised to Muhammad.[27]

text: Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees labeled according to common and scientific names[28] and fountains. The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by Babur, the first Mughal emperor. It symbolises the four flowing rivers of Jannah (Paradise) and reflects the Paradise garden derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning 'walled garden'. In mystic Islamic texts of the Mughal period, Paradise is described as an ideal garden of abundance with four rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south and east.

text: Most Mughal charbaghs are rectangular with a tomb or pavilion in the centre. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, is located at the end of the garden. With the discovery of Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden" on the other side of the Yamuna, the interpretation of the Archaeological Survey of India is that the Yamuna river itself was incorporated into the garden's design and was meant to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise.[29] Similarities in layout and architectural features with the Shalimar Gardens suggests both gardens may have been designed by the same architect, Ali Mardan.[30] Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including abundant roses, daffodils, and fruit trees.[31] As the Mughal Empire declined, the Taj Mahal and its gardens also declined.  By the end of the 19th century, the British Empire controlled more than three-fifths of India,[32] and assumed management of the Taj Mahal. They changed the landscaping to their liking which more closely resembled the formal lawns of London.[33]

text: Outlying buildings

text: The Taj Mahal complex is bordered on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls; the side facing the river is open. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan's other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz's favourite servant.[34]

text: The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumental structure built primarily of marble, and reminiscent of the Mughal architecture of earlier emperors. Its archways mirror the shape of the tomb's archways, and its pishtaq arches incorporate the calligraphy that decorates the tomb. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs like those found in the other sandstone buildings in the complex.[35]

text: At the far end of the complex are two grand red sandstone buildings that mirror each other, and face the sides of the tomb. The backs of the buildings parallel the western and eastern walls. The western building is a mosque and the other is the jawab (answer), thought to have been constructed for architectural balance although it may have been used as a guesthouse. Distinctions between the two buildings include the jawab's lack of a mihrab (a niche in a mosque's wall facing Mecca), and its floors of geometric design whereas the floor of the mosque is laid with outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. The mosque's basic design of a long hall surmounted by three domes is similar to others built by Shah Jahan, particularly the Masjid-i Jahān-Numā, or Jama Masjid, Delhi. The Mughal mosques of this period divide the sanctuary hall into three areas comprising a main sanctuary and slightly smaller sanctuaries on either side.  At the Taj Mahal, each sanctuary opens onto an expansive vaulting dome. The outlying buildings were completed in 1643.[10]

text: Construction

text: The Taj Mahal is built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the centre of Agra in exchange for the land.[36] An area of roughly 1.2 hectares (3 acres) was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage, and levelled at 50 metres (160 ft) above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble to form the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it would take years to dismantle.[37]

text: The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia.  It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty-eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

text: According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site and teams of twenty or thirty oxen pulled the blocks on specially constructed wagons.[38] An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to a large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.

text: The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab, and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion".  Construction of the mausoleum itself was essentially completed by 1643[7] while work continued on the outlying buildings.  Estimates of the cost of construction vary due to difficulties in estimating costs across time. The total cost at the time has been estimated to be about 32 million Indian rupees,[7] which is around 52.8 billion Indian rupees ($827 million US) based on 2015 values.[39]

text: Later days

text:
Abdul Hamid Lahauri in his book Badshahnama refers to Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara, meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb.[40]
Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife.[41] In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked the Taj Mahal, the two chandeliers, one of agate and another of silver, which were hung over the main cenotaph, were taken away by them, along with the gold and silver screen.  Kanbo, a Mughal historian, said the gold shield which covered the 4.6-metre-high (15 ft) finial at the top of the main dome was also removed during the Jat despoliation.[42]

text: By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. During the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiselled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908.[43][44] He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodelled with British-style lawns that are still in place today.

text: Threats

text: In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force.[45][46] During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffolding were again erected to mislead bomber pilots.[47]

text: More recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of the Yamuna River including acid rain[48] due to the Mathura Oil Refinery,[49] which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives.[50] The pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400-square-kilometre (4,000 sq mi) area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place.[51]

text: Concerns for the tomb's structural integrity have recently been raised because of a decline in the groundwater level in the Yamuna river basin which is falling at a rate of around 1.5 m (5 ft) per year. In 2010, cracks appeared in parts of the tomb, and the minarets which surround the monument were showing signs of tilting, as the wooden foundation of the tomb may be rotting due to lack of water. It has been pointed out by politicians, however, that the minarets are designed to tilt slightly outwards to prevent them from crashing on top of the tomb in the event of an earthquake. In 2011, it was reported that some predictions indicated that the tomb could collapse within 5 years.[52][53]

text: Small minarets located at two of the outlying buildings were reported as damaged by a storm on April 11, 2018.[54]

text: Tourism

text: The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than 2 million visitors in 2001,[55] which had increased to about 7–8 million in 2014.[2] A two-tier pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens and a more expensive one for foreigners. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor centre.[56][57]

text: The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was originally constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen.[58] Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.[59]

text: The grounds are open from 06:00 to 19:00 weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after,[60] excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan. For security reasons[61] only five items—water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies' purses—are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.[62]

text: Myths

text: Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument.[63]  A longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble as a Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river.[64] The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveller who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that Shah Jahan was overthrown by his son Aurangzeb before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in Moonlight Garden, Mahtab Bagh, seemed to support this legend. However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discoloured white stones that had turned black.[65] A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Moonlight Garden. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.[66]

text: No evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings.[67] No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort.[68]

text: Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette.[69]

text: In 2000, India's Supreme Court dismissed P. N. Oak's petition[70] to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal.[67][71] In 2005 a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who says that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmar Dev in 1196.[72]

text: As of 2017, several court cases about Taj Mahal being a Hindu temple have been inspired by Oak's theory.[73][74] In August 2017, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) stated there was no evidence to suggest the monument ever housed a temple.[75]

text: A theory that the Taj Mahal was designed by an Italian, Geronimo Vereneo, held sway for a brief period after it was first promoted by Henry George Keene in 1879 who went by a translation of a Spanish work  Itinerario, (The Travels of Fray Sebastian Manrique, 1629-1643). Another theory that a Frenchman, Austin of Bordeaux designed the Taj was promoted by William Henry Sleeman based on the work of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. These idea were revived by Father Hosten and discussed again by E.B. Havell and served as the basis for subsequent theories and controversies.[76]

text: Gallery

text:
Taj Mahal

Eastern view in the morning

Western view at sunset

Taj Mahal through the fog

A panoramic view looking 360 degrees around the Taj Mahal in 2005

tag: ul


document_title: History of Christianity in Britain

question_text: when did christianity come to the british isles

text: History of Christianity in Britain

text: England[edit]

text: Celts[edit]

text: The early history of Christianity in Britain is highly obscure. Medieval legends concerning the conversion of the island under King Lucius[2] or from a mission by St Philip[4] or Joseph of Arimathea[6] have been discredited; they seem to have been pious forgeries introduced in attempts to establish independence[7] or seniority[5] in the ecclesiastical hierarchy formalized following the Norman conquest of England and Wales. The first archaeological evidence and credible records showing a community large enough to maintain churches and bishops dates to the 3rd and 4th centuries, but it started from a small base: the British delegation to the 353 Council of Rimini had to beg for financial assistance from its fellows in order to return home.[8] The Romano-British population seem to have been mostly Christian by the Sub-Roman period, although the Great Conspiracy in the 360s and increased raiding around the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain saw many enslaved. The Saxon invasions of Britain destroyed most of the formal church as they progressed, replacing it with a form of Germanic polytheism. There seems to have been a lull traditionally attributed to the Battle of Badon but, following the arrival of Justinian's Plague around 547, the expansion resumed. By the time Cornwall was subjugated by Wessex at Hingston Down in 838, however, it was largely left to its native people and practices.

text: Anglo-Saxons[edit]

text: Christianity was largely reintroduced to Britain by the Gregorian Mission, c. 600. Establishing his archdiocese at Canterbury, St Augustine failed to establish his authority over the Welsh church at Chester but his mission—with help from Scottish missionaries such as SS Aidan and Cuthbert—proved successful in Kent and then Northumbria: the two provinces of the English church continue to be led from the cathedrals of Canterbury and York (est. 735). Owing to the importance of the Scottish missions, Northumbria initially followed the native church in its calculation of Easter and tonsure but then aligned itself with Canterbury and Rome at the 664 Synod of Whitby. Early English Christian documents surviving from this time include the 7th-century illuminated Lindisfarne Gospels and the historical accounts written by the Venerable Bede. The Irish and Scots adopted the Roman practices over the 7th & 8th centuries; around 768, "Archbishop" Elfodd of "Gwynedd" finally convinced the Welsh to follow, although it was not until after the reign of Bernard that the bishop of St Davids was finally compelled to submit to the authority of Canterbury and the English church.

text: Normans[edit]

text: By the 11th century, the Normans had overrun England and begun the annexation of Wales. St Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, codified the Sarum Rite and, by the time of his successor, Roger, a system of endowed prebends had been developed that left ecclesiastical positions independent of the bishop. Tolerance of commendatory benefices permitted the well-connected to hold multiple offices simply for their spiritual and temporal revenues, subcontracting the position's duties to lower clerics or simply treating them as sinecures. The importance of such revenues prompted the Investiture Crisis, which erupted in Britain over the fight occasioned by King John's refusal to accept Pope Innocent III's nominee as archbishop of Canterbury. England was placed under interdict in 1208 and John excommunicated the following year; he enjoyed the seizure of the church's revenues but finally relented owing to domestic and foreign rivals strengthened by papal opposition.[12] Although John quickly reneged on his payments,[12] Innocent thereafter took his side and roundly condemned the Magna Carta, calling it "not only shameful and demeaning but illegal and unjust".[13] A major reform movement or heresy of the 14th century was Lollardy, led by John Wycliffe, who translated the Bible into English. Posthumously condemned, his body was exhumed and burnt and its ashes thrown into the River Swift.

text: Even before the Conquest, Edward the Confessor had returned from Normandy with masons who constructed Westminster Abbey (1042) in the Romanesque style. The cruciform churches of Norman architecture often had deep chancels and a square crossing tower, which has remained a feature of English ecclesiastical architecture. England has many early cathedrals, most notably York Minster (1080), Durham Cathedral (1093), and (New) Salisbury Cathedral (1220). After a fire damaged Canterbury Cathedral in 1174, Norman masons introduced the Gothic style, which developed into the English Gothic at Wells and Lincoln Cathedrals around 1191. Oxford and Cambridge began as religious schools in the 11th and 13th centuries, respectively.

text: English Reformation[edit]

text: Henry VIII was named Defender of the Faith (Fidei Defensor) for his opposition to Luther's Reformation. His wife's inability to bear a living son and the pope's inability to permit him a divorce while her nephew's armies held Rome, however, prompted Henry to summon the Reformation Parliament and to invoke the statute of praemunire against the English church, ultimately leading to the 1532 Submission of the Clergy and the 1534 Acts of Supremacy that established the Church of England. A law passed the same year made it an act of treason to publicly oppose these measures; SS John Fisher and Thomas More and many others were martyred for their continued Catholicism. Fear of foreign invasion was a concern until the 1588 rout of the Spanish Armada, but land sales after the Dissolution of the lesser and greater monasteries united most of the aristocracy behind the change. Religious rebellions in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire in 1536, in Cumberland in 1537, and in Devon and Cornwall in 1549 were quickly dealt with. The doctrine of the English Reformation differed little at first except with regard to royal authority over canon law: Lutheranism remained condemned and John Frith, Robert Barnes, and other Protestants were also martyred, including William Tyndale, whose Obedience of a Christian Man inspired Henry's break with Rome and whose translation of the Bible formed the basis of Henry's own authorized Great Bible. Meanwhile, laws in 1535 and 1542 fully merged Wales with England.

text: For the next 150 years, religious policy varied with the ruler: Edward VI and his regents favored greater Protestantism, including new books of Common Prayer and Common Order. His sister Mary restored Catholicism after negotiations with the pope ended Rome's claims to the former church lands,[14] but two false pregnancies left her sister Elizabeth I as her heir. Upon Elizabeth's ascension, the 1558 Act of Uniformity, 1559 Act and Oath of Supremacy, and the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 formed the Religious Settlement which restored the Protestant Church of England. The vicissitudes of the clergy during the period were satirized in "The Vicar of Bray". The papal bull Regnans in Excelsis supporting the Rising of the North and the Irish Desmond Rebellions against Elizabeth proved ineffective, but similarly ineffective were the Marian exiles who returned from Calvin's Geneva as Puritans. James I supported the bishops of the Anglican church and the production of an authoritative English Bible while easing persecution against Catholics; several attempts against his person—including the Bye & Gunpowder Plots—finally led to harsher measures. Charles I provoked the Bishops' Wars in Scotland and ultimately the Civil War in England. The victorious Long Parliament restructured the church at the 1643 Westminster Assembly and issued a new confession of faith. (The English Baptists drew up their own in 1689.) Following the Restoration, onerous Penal Laws were enacted against nonconformists, including the Clarendon Code. Charles II and James II tried to declare royal indulgences of other faiths in 1672 and in 1687; the former was withdrawn in favour of the first Test Act, which—along with the Popish Plot—led to the Exclusion Crisis, and the latter contributed to the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

text: The religious settlement of 1689 shaped policy down to the 1830s.[15][16] The Church of England was not only dominant in religious affairs, but it blocked outsiders from responsible positions in national and local government, business, professions and academe. In practice, the doctrine of the divine right of kings persisted[17] Old animosities had diminished, and a new spirit of toleration was abroad. Restrictions on Nonconformists were mostly either ignored or slowly lifted. The Protestants, including the Quakers, who worked to overthrow King James II were rewarded. The Toleration Act of 1689 allowed nonconformists who have their own chapels, teachers, and preachers, censorship was relaxed.[18]

text: Anti-Catholicism[edit]

text: Harsh penalties on Catholicism remained until the threat of a French restoration of the Catholic Stuart kings ended, But they were seldom enforced, and afterwords were slowly slowly lifted until Catholic emancipation was achieved in 1829. The failure of the pro-Catholic Jacobite rebellions and papal recognition of George III after the death of J.F.E. Stuart in 1766 permitted the gradual removal of anti-Catholic laws, a process known as the Catholic Emancipation, which included the Restoration of the English hierarchy.[19][20]

text: The First Great Awakening[edit]

text: The evangelical movement inside and outside the Church of England gained strength in the late 18th and early 19th century. The movement challenge the traditional religious sensibility that emphasized a code of honor for the upper-class, and suitable behaviour for everyone else, together with faithful observances of rituals. John Wesley (1703 – 1791) and his followers preached revivalist religion, trying to convert individuals to a personal relationship with Christ through Bible reading, regular prayer, and especially the revival experience. Wesley himself preached 52,000 times, calling on men and women to "redeem the time" and save their souls. Wesley always operated inside the Church of England, but at his death, it set up outside institutions that became the Methodist Church.[21] It stood alongside the traditional nonconformist churches, Presbyterians, Congregationalist, Baptists, Unitarians and Quakers. The nonconformist churches, however, were less influenced by revivalism.[22]

text: The Church of England remained dominant, but it had a growing evangelical, revivalist faction the "Low Church". Its leaders included William Wilberforce and Hannah More. It reached the upper class through the Clapham Sect. It did not seek political reform, but rather the opportunity to save souls through political action by freeing slaves, abolishing the duel, prohibiting cruelty to children and animals, stopping gambling, avoiding frivolity on the Sabbath; they read the Bible every day. All souls were equal in God's view, but not all bodies, so evangelicals did not challenge the hierarchical structure of English society.[23]

text: Census of 1851[edit]

text: As part of the regular census in 1851, the Government conducted a census in England and Wales of attendance at religious services on 30 March 1851. Reports were collected from local ministers who reported attendance at their services on 30 March 1851. The count was 10,896,066 attending out of a population of 17.9 million. There were 5,292,551 attending Church of England services, 4,536,264 attending the other Protestant churches, and 383,630 attending Catholic services.[24][25]

text: Missionary activity[edit]

text: During the 18th century heyday of the First British Empire, Anglican and Methodist missionaries were active in the 13 American Colonies. The Methodists, led by George Whitefield, were the most successful and after the revolution and entirely distinct American Methodist denomination emerged that became the largest Protestant denomination in the new United States.[26] A major problem for colonial officials was the demand of the Church of England to set up an American bishop; this was strongly opposed by most of the Americans had never happened. Increasingly colonial officials took a neutral position on religious matters, even in those colonies such as Virginia where the Church of England was officially established, but in practice controlled by laymen in the local vestries. After the Americans broke free, British officials decided to enhance the power and wealth of the Church of England in all the settler colonies, especially British North America (Canada).[27]

text: During the New Imperialism of the 19th century, the London Missionary Society and others like it were active In the British Empire around the world, notably including the work of the Scotsman David Livingstone in Africa. New religious orders were also established within the Anglican fold.

text: All the main denominations were involved in 19th century missions, including the Church of England, the Presbyterians of Scotland, and the Nonconformists. Much of the enthusiasm emerged from the Evangelical revival. Within the Church of England, the Church Mission Society (CMS) originated in 1799[28] and went on to undertake activity all around the world, including in what became known as "the Middle East".[29][30]

text: Missionary societies funded their own operations that were not supervised or directed by the Colonial Office. Tensions emerged between the missionaries and the colonial officials. The latter feared that missionaries might stir up trouble or encourage the natives to challenge colonial authority. In general, colonial officials were much more comfortable with working with the established local leadership, including the native religions, rather than introducing the divisive force of Christianity. This proved especially troublesome in India, were very few local elites were attracted to Christianity. In Africa, especially, the missionaries made many converts. By the 21st century there were more Anglicans in Nigeria than in England, and they were culturally and theologically much more conservative.[31][32]

text: Missionaries increasingly came to focus on education, medical help, and long-term modernization of the native personality to inculcate European middle-class values. They established schools and medical clinics. Christian missionaries played a public role, especially in promoting sanitation and public health. Many were trained as physicians, or took special courses in public health and tropical medicine at Livingstone College, London.[33]

text: In the 20th century, the Liturgical and Ecumenical Movements were important developments. Randall Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928, was perhaps the most influential of the churchmen.[34]

text: A curious case was Ernest Barnes, (1874 – 1953) Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, was a highly visible modernist opposed to Anglo-Catholic practices and rituals. He preached Darwin and ridiculed many Christian beliefs, especially the Sacrament of Holy Communion and the bodily Resurrection of Christ. This led to calls that he should resign as a bishop; he refused, but Davidson made a gentle attack on Barnes in an open letter.[35][36]

text: Although the overall population was growing steadily, and the Catholic membership was keeping pace, the Protestants were slipping behind. Out of 30-50 million adults, they dropped slowly from 5.7 million members in 1920, and 5.4 million in 1940, to 4.3 million in 1970. [37] The Church of England decline was parallel. Methodism, the largest of the Nonconformist churches reached a peak of 841,000 members in Great Britain in 1910, slipped to 802,000 in 1920, 792,000 in 1940 729,000 in 1960, and 488,000 in 1980.[38] The Nonconformists had built a strong base In industrial districts that specialized in mining textiles agriculture and fishing; those were declining industries, who share of the total male workforce Was in steady decline, from 21 percent in 1921 to 13 percent in 1951. As the families migrated to southern England, or to the suburbs, they often lost contact with their childhood religion.[39] The political reverberations were most serious for the Liberal Party, which was largely based in the nonconformist community, and which rapidly lost membership in the 1920s as its leadership quarreled, the Irish Catholics and many from the working-class moved to the Labour Party, and part of the middle class moved to the Conservative party.[40] Hoping to stem the membership decline, the three major Methodist groups merged in 1932. In Scotland the two major Presbyterian groups, the Church of Scotland and the United Free Church, merged in 1929 for the same reason. Nonetheless the steady declension continued.[41] The nonconformist churches showed not just a decline in membership but a dramatic fall in enthusiasm. Sunday school attendance plummeted; there were far fewer new ministers. Antagonism toward the Anglican church sharply declined, and many prominent nonconformists became Anglicans, including some leading ministers. There was a falling away in the size and fervour of congregations, less interest in funding missionaries, a decline in intellectualism, and persistent complaints about the lack of money.[42] Commentator D.W. Brogan reported in 1943:

text: One aspect of the long-term decline in religiosity was that Protestant showed less and less interest in sending their children to religious schools. In localities across England, fierce battles were fought between the Nonconformists, Anglicans, and Catholics, each with their own school systems supported by taxes, and secular schools, and taxpayers. The Nonconformists had long taken the lead in fighting the Anglicans, who a century before had practically monopolized education. The Anglican share of the elementary school population fell from 57% in 1918 to 39% in 1939. [44] With the sustained decline in Nonconformist enthusiasm their schools closed one after another. In 1902 the Methodist Church operated 738 schools; only 28 remained in 1996.[45]

text: Britain continued to think of itself is a Christian country; there were a few atheists or nonbelievers, but unlike the continent, there was no anti-clericalism worthy of note. A third or more prayed every day. Large majorities used formal church services to mark birth, marriage and death.[46] The great majority believed in God and heaven, although belief in hell fell off after all the deaths of the World War.[47] After 1918, Church of England services stopped practically all discussion of hell.[48] [[]],

text: As anti-Catholicism declined sharply after 1910, the Catholics church grew in numbers, grew rapidly in terms of priests and sisters, and expanded their parishes from intercity industrial areas to more suburban locales. Although underrepresented in the higher levels of the social structure, apart from a few old aristocratic Catholic families, Catholic talent was emerging in journalism and diplomacy. A striking development was the surge in highly publicized conversion of intellectuals and writers including most famously G. K. Chesterton, as well as Christopher Dawson, Maurice Baring, Ronald Knox, Sheila Kaye-Smith, William E. Orchard, Alfred Noyes, Rosalind Murray, Arnold Lunn, Eric Gill, David Jones, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Manya Harari, and Frank Pakenham.[49]

text: Since 1945[edit]

text: Present debates concern the ordination of women and the acceptance of homosexuality within the church and clergy. The established church continues to count many more baptised members, although immigration from other countries means that the restored Catholic Church in England and Wales now has greater attendance at its weekly services.[50][51]

text: Roman Catholics[edit]

text: English Catholicism continued to grow throughout the first two thirds of the 20th century, when it was associated primarily with elements in the English intellectual class and the ethnic Irish population. Rates of attending Mass remained very high in stark contrast with the Anglican church and Protestant churches.[52] Clergy numbers, which began the 20th century at under 3,000, reached a high of 7,500 in 1971.[53]

text: By the latter years of the twentieth century low numbers of vocations also affected the church[54] with ordinations to the priesthood dropping from the hundreds in the late 20th century into the teens in 2006-2011 (16 in 2009 for example) and a recovery into the 20's thereafter, with a prediction for 2018 of 24.[55][56][57]

text: The upward social movement of Irish Catholics out of the working-class into the middle-class suburban mainstream often meant their assimilation with broader, secular English society and loss of a separate Catholic identity. The Second Vatican Council has been followed, as in other Western countries, by divisions between traditional Catholicism and a more liberal form of Catholicism claiming inspiration from the Council. This caused difficulties for not a few pre-conciliar converts, though others have still joined the Church in recent decades (for instance, Malcolm Muggeridge and Joseph Pearce), and public figures (often descendants of the recusant families) such as Paul Johnson; Peter Ackroyd; Antonia Fraser; Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC; Michael Martin, first Catholic to hold the office of Speaker of the House of Commons since the Reformation; Chris Patten, first Catholic to hold the post of Chancellor of Oxford since the Reformation; Piers Paul Read; Helen Liddel, Britain's High Commissioner to Australia; and former Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, have no difficulty making their Catholicism known in public life. The former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was received into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2007.[58] Catherine Pepinster, Editor of Tablet, notes: "The impact of Irish immigrants is one. There are numerous prominent campaigners, academics, entertainers (like Danny Boyle the most successful Catholic in showbiz owing to his film, Slumdog Millionaire), politicians and writers. But the descendants of the recusant families are still a force in the land."[59][60][61]

text: Secularization[edit]

text: Historians agree that in the late 1940s Britain was a Christian nation, with its religiosity reinforced by the wartime experience. Peter Forster found that in answering pollsters the English reported an overwhelming belief in the truth of Christianity, a high respect for it, and a strong association between it and moral behaviour.[62] Peter Hennessy argued that long-held attitudes did not stop change; by midcentury: "Britain was still a Christian country only in a vague attitudinal sense, belief generally being more a residual husk than the kernel of conviction." [63] Kenneth O. Morgan agreed, noting that: "the Protestant churches. Anglican, and more especially non-conformist, all felt the pressure of falling numbers and of secular challenges....Even the drab Sabbath of Wales and Scotland was under some threat, with pressure for opening cinemas in Wales and golf-courses in Scotland."[64]

text: Harrison reports that the forces of secularization grew rapidly, and by the 1990s Protestantism cast a thin shadow of its 1945 strength. Compared to Western Europe, Britain stood at the lower end of attendance at religious services, and near the top in people claiming ‘no religion’. While 80 per cent of Britons in 1950 said they were Christians, only 64 per cent did so in 2000. Brian Harrison states:

text: Scotland[edit]

text: Early history[edit]

text: Scottish Reformation[edit]

text: During the 16th century, Scotland underwent a Protestant Reformation that created a Calvinist national Kirk, which became Presbyterian in outlook and severely reduced the powers of bishops. Remnants of Catholic and Episcopal religion remained, however. In the earlier part of the century, the teachings of first Martin Luther and then John Calvin began to influence Scotland, particularly through Scottish scholars, often training for the priesthood, who had visited Continental universities.[66] The Lutheran preacher Patrick Hamilton was executed for heresy in St. Andrews in 1528.[67] The execution of others, especially the Zwingli-influenced George Wishart, who was burnt at the stake on the orders of Cardinal Beaton in 1546, angered Protestants. Wishart's supporters assassinated Beaton soon after and seized St. Andrews Castle, which they held for a year before they were defeated with the help of French forces. The survivors, including chaplain John Knox, were condemned to be galley slaves in France, stoking resentment of the French and creating martyrs for the Protestant cause.[68] Limited toleration and the influence of exiled Scots and Protestants in other countries, led to the expansion of Protestantism, with a group of lairds declaring themselves Lords of the Congregation in 1557 and representing their interests politically. The collapse of the French alliance and English intervention in 1560 meant that a relatively small, but highly influential, group of Protestants were in a position to impose reform on the Scottish church. A confession of faith, rejecting papal jurisdiction and the mass, was adopted by Parliament in 1560, while the young Mary, Queen of Scots, was still in France.[69]

text: Knox, having escaped the galleys and spent time in Geneva as a follower of Calvin, emerged as the most significant figure of the period. The Calvinism of the reformers led by Knox resulted in a settlement that adopted a Presbyterian system and rejected most of the elaborate trappings of the medieval church. The reformed Kirk gave considerable power to local lairds, who often had control over the appointment of the clergy. There were widespread, but generally orderly outbreaks of iconoclasm. At this point the majority of the population was probably still Catholic in persuasion and the Kirk found it difficult to penetrate the Highlands and Islands, but began a gradual process of conversion and consolidation that, compared with reformations elsewhere, was conducted with relatively little persecution.[70]

text: 18th Century[edit]

text: In the 1690s the Presbyterian establishment purged the land of Episcopalians and heretics, and made blasphemy a capital crime. Thomas Aitkenhead, the son of an Edinburgh surgeon, aged 18, was indicted for blasphemy by order of the Privy Council for calling the New Testament "The History of the Imposter Christ"; he was hung in 1696.[71] Their extremism led to a reaction known as the "Moderate" cause that ultimately prevailed and opened the way for liberal thinking in the cities.

text: The early 18th century saw the beginnings of a fragmentation of the Church of Scotland. These fractures were prompted by issues of government and patronage, but reflected a wider division between the hard-line Evangelicals and the theologically more tolerant Moderate Party. The battle was over fears of fanaticism by the former and the promotion of Enlightenment ideas by the latter. The Patronage Act of 1712 was a major blow to the evangelicals, for it meant that local landlords could choose the minister, not the members of the congregation.[72] Schisms erupted as the evangelicals left the main body, starting in 1733 with the First Secession headed by figures including Ebenezer Erskine. The second schism in 1761 lead to the foundation of the independent Relief Church.[73] These churches gained strength in the Evangelical Revival of the later 18th century.[74] a key result was the main Presbyterian church was in the hands of the Moderate faction, which provided critical support for the Enlightenment in the cities.

text: Long after the triumph of the Church of Scotland in the Lowlands, Highlanders and Islanders clung to an old-fashioned Christianity infused with animistic folk beliefs and practices. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw some success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society.[75] Catholicism had been reduced to the fringes of the country, particularly the Gaelic-speaking areas of the Highlands and Islands. Conditions also grew worse for Catholics after the Jacobite rebellions and Catholicism was reduced to little more than a poorly-run mission. Also important was Episcopalianism, which had retained supporters through the civil wars and changes of regime in the 17th century. Since most Episcopalians had given their support to the Jacobite rebellions in the early 18th century, they also suffered a decline in fortunes.[73]

text: 19th Century[edit]

text: After prolonged years of struggle, in 1834 the Evangelicals gained control of the General Assembly and passed the Veto Act, which allowed congregations to reject unwanted "intrusive" presentations to livings by patrons. The following "Ten Years' Conflict" of legal and political wrangling ended in defeat for the non-intrusionists in the civil courts. The result was a schism from the church by some of the non-intrusionists led by Dr Thomas Chalmers known as the Great Disruption of 1843. Roughly a third of the clergy, mainly from the North and Highlands, formed the separate Free Church of Scotland. The evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly in the Highlands and Islands, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.[75] Chalmers's ideas shaped the breakaway group. He stressed a social vision that revived and preserved Scotland's communal traditions at a time of strain on the social fabric of the country. Chalmers's idealized small equalitarian, kirk-based, self-contained communities that recognized the individuality of their members and the need for cooperation.[76] That vision also affected the mainstream Presbyterian churches, and by the 1870s it had been assimilated by the established Church of Scotland. Chalmers's ideals demonstrated that the church was concerned with the problems of urban society, and they represented a real attempt to overcome the social fragmentation that took place in industrial towns and cities.[77]

text: In the late 19th century the major debates were between fundamentalist Calvinists and theological liberals, who rejected a literal interpretation of the Bible. This resulted in a further split in the Free Church as the rigid Calvinists broke away to form the Free Presbyterian Church in 1893.[73] There were, however, also moves towards reunion, beginning with the unification of some secessionist churches into the United Secession Church in 1820, which united with the Relief Church in 1847 to form the United Presbyterian Church, which in turn joined with the Free Church in 1900 to form the United Free Church of Scotland. The removal of legislation on lay patronage would allow the majority of the Free Church to rejoin Church of Scotland in 1929. The schisms left small denominations including the Free Presbyterians and a remnant that had not merged in 1900 as the Free Church.[73]

text: Catholic Emancipation in 1829 and the influx of large numbers of Irish immigrants, particularly after the famine years of the late 1840s, principally to the growing lowland centres like Glasgow, led to a transformation in the fortunes of Catholicism. In 1878, despite opposition, a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy was restored to the country, and Catholicism became a significant denomination within Scotland.[73] Episcopalianism also revived in the 19th century as the issue of succession receded, becoming established as the Episcopal Church in Scotland in 1804, as an autonomous organisation in communion with the Church of England.[73] Baptist, Congregationalist and Methodist churches had appeared in Scotland in the 18th century, but did not begin significant growth until the 19th century,[73] partly because more radical and evangelical traditions already existed within the Church of Scotland and the free churches. From 1879 they were joined by the evangelical revivalism of the Salvation Army, which attempted to make major inroads in the growing urban centres.[74]

text: 20th and 21st centuries[edit]

text: In the 20th century existing Christian denominations were joined by other organisations, including the Brethren and Pentecostal churches. Although some denominations thrived, after World War II there was a steady overall decline in church attendance and resulting church closures for most denominations.[74] Talks began in the 1950s aiming at a grand merger of the main Presbyterian, Episcopal and Methodist bodies in Scotland. The talks were ended in 2003, when the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland rejected the proposals.[78] The religious situation was also altered by immigration, resulting in the growth of non-Christian religions. In the 2001 census 42.4 per cent of the population identified with the Church of Scotland, 15.9 per cent with Catholicism and 6.8 with other forms of Christianity, making up roughly 65 per cent of the population (compared with 72 per cent for the UK as a whole). Of other religions Islam was at 0.8 per cent, Buddhism, Sikhism, Judaism and Hinduism were all at around 0.1 per cent. Other religions together accounted for 0.6 per cent of respondents and 5.5 per cent did not state a religion. There were 27.5 per cent who stated that they had no religion (which compares with 15.5 per cent in the UK overall).[79][80] Other more recent studies suggest that those not identifying with a denomination, or who see themselves as non-religious, may be much higher at between 42 and 56 per cent, depending on the form of question asked.[81]

text: Wales[edit]

text: Early history[edit]

text: Welsh Reformation[edit]

text: Bishop Richard Davies and dissident Protestant cleric John Penry introduced Calvinist theology to Wales. They used the model of the Synod of Dort of 1618-1619. Calvinism developed through the Puritan period, following the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II, and within Wales' Methodist movement. However few copies of Calvin's works were available before the mid-19th century.[82] In 1567 Davies, William Salesbury, and Thomas Huet completed the first modern translation of the New Testament and the first translation of the Book of Common Prayer (Welsh: Y Llyfr Gweddi Gyffredin). In 1588 William Morgan completed a translation of the whole Bible. These translations were was important to the survival of the Welsh language and had the effect of conferring status on Welsh as a liturgical language and vehicle for worship. This had a significant role in its continued use as a means of everyday communication and as a literary language down to the present day despite the pressure of English.

text: Nonconformity[edit]

text: Nonconformity was a significant influence in Wales from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. The Welsh Methodist revival of the 18th century was one of the most significant religious and social movements in the history of Wales. The revival began within the Church of England in Wales and at the beginning remained as a group within it, but the Welsh revival differed from the Methodist revival in England in that its theology was Calvinist rather than Arminian. Welsh Methodists gradually built up their own networks, structures, and even meeting houses (or chapels), which led eventually to the secession of 1811 and the formal establishment of the Calvinistic Methodist Presbyterian church of Wales in 1823.

text: The Welsh Methodist revival also had an influence on the older nonconformist churches, or dissenters — the Baptists and the Congregationalists — who in turn also experienced growth and renewal. As a result, by the middle of the nineteenth century, Wales was predominantly a nonconformist country.

text: The 1904-1905 Welsh Revival was the largest full scale Christian Revival of Wales of the 20th century. It is believed that at least 100,000 people became Christians during the 1904–1905 revival, but despite this it did not put a stop to the gradual decline of Christianity in Wales, only holding it back slightly.