A carroccio was a war chariot drawn by oxen, used by the medieval republics of Italy. It was a rectangular platform on which the standard of the city and an altar were erected; priests held services on the altar before the battle, and the trumpeters beside them encouraged the fighters to the fray. For the torpedo-shaped underwater vehicle ridden by two frogmen, sometimes referred to as a chariot, see Human torpedo. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

In battle the carroccio was surrounded by the bravest warriors in the army and it served both as a rallying-point and as the palladium of the city's honor; its capture by the enemy was regarded as an irretrievable defeat and humiliation. It was first employed by the Milanese in 1038, and played a great part in the wars of the Lombard league aginst the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. It was afterwards adopted by other cities, and first appears on a Florentine battlefield in 1228. Jump to: navigation, search Location within Italy Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed region in Italy. ... The Lombard League was an alliance formed on December 1, 1167 between 26 (later 30) cities of North Italy, including Cremona, Mantua, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Bologna, Padua, Treviso, Vicenza, Verona, Lodi, and Parma. ... Frederick in a 13th century Chronicle Frederick I (German: Friedrich I. von Hohenstaufen)(1122 – June 10, 1190), also known as Friedrich assface (Frederick Redbeard) was elected king of Germany on March 4, 1152 and crowned Holy Roman Emperor on June 18, 1155. ... Jump to: navigation, search Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E...

The Florentine carroccio was usually followed by a smaller car bearing the mairtinella, a bell to ring out military signals. When war was regarded as likely the martinella was attached to the door of thechurch of Santa Maria in the Mercato Nuovo in Florence and rung to warn both citizens and enemies. In. times of peace the carroccio was in the keeping of some great family which had distinguished itself by signal services to the republic.

Accounts of the carroccio will be found in most histories of the Italian republics; see for instance, M. Villani's Chronache, vi. 5 (Florence, 1825-1826); P. Villari, The Two First Centuries of Florentine History, vol. i. (Engl. transl., London, 1894); Gino Capponi, Storia della Repubblica di Firenze, vol. i. (Florence, 1875). Jump to: navigation, search The clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...