Last to post wins

[Creeperopolis]

The Loveday of 1458 (also known as the Annunciation Loveday)[1] was a ritualistic reconciliation between warring factions of the English nobility that took place at St Paul's Cathedral on 25 March 1458. Following the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, it was the culmination of lengthy negotiations initiated by King Henry VI to resolve the lords' rivalries. English politics had become increasingly factional during his reign, and was exacerbated in 1453 when he became catatonic. This effectively left the government leaderless, and eventually the king's cousin, and at the time heir to the throne, Richard, Duke of York, was appointed protector during the king's illness. Alongside York were his allies from the politically and militarily powerful Neville family, led by Richard, Earl of Salisbury, and his eldest son, Richard, Earl of Warwick. When the king returned to health a year later, the protectorship ended but partisanship within the government did not.

Supporters of King Henry and his wife, Queen Margaret, have been loosely called "Lancastrians", the king being head of the House of Lancaster, while the duke and his party are considered "Yorkists", after his title of Duke of York.[note 1] By the 1450s, York felt increasingly excluded from government, and in May 1455—possibly fearing an ambush by his enemies—led an army against the King at the First Battle of St Albans. There, in what has been called more of a series of assassinations than a battle, the personal enemies of York and the Nevilles—the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, and Lord Clifford—perished.

In 1458 the king attempted to unite his feuding nobles with a public display of friendship under the auspices of the Church at St Paul's Cathedral. Following much discussion and negotiation, and amid the presence of large, armed, noble retinues which almost led to another outbreak of war, a compromise was announced. To celebrate, a procession was held by all the major participants, who walked hand-in-hand from Westminster Palace to the cathedral. Queen Margaret was partnered with York, and other adversaries were paired off accordingly, and the sons of the dead Lancastrian lords took their fathers' places. Certain reparations were ordained, all by the Yorkist lords, who for their part accepted full responsibility for the Battle of St Albans. They were ordered to make payments to the dead lords' widows and sons, and masses were paid for the souls of all who had died. Contemporaries varied in their views of the accord. Some wrote verses expressing hope that it would lead to a new-found peace and prosperity; others were more pessimistic as to its value.

In the long run, the king's Loveday and its agreements had no long-lasting benefit. Within a few months, petty violence between the lords had broken out again and, within the year, York and Lancaster faced each other at the Battle of Blore Heath. Historians debate who—if anyone—gained from the 1458 Loveday. On the one hand, the crown publicised its role as the ultimate court of appeal but, conversely, although the Yorkists were bound to pay large sums in compensation, this was done with money already owed by the government. Fundamentally, factional discord was highlighted on the public stage, and the war it was intended to prevent was only deferred.

[Creeperopolis]

Massospondylus (/ˌmæsoʊˈspɒndɪləs/ MASS-oh-spon-di-lus[1]) is a genus of sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of southern Africa. It was described by Richard Owen in 1854 from remains discovered in South Africa, and is thus one of the first dinosaurs to have been named. The name Massospondylus means 'longer vertebra', alluding to what Owen identified as tail vertebrae; these vertebrae are now known to be from the neck. Although the original fossils were destroyed in London during a bombing raid in World War II, a plethora of specimens have since been assigned to the genus, making it one of the best-known sauropodomorphs from the Early Jurassic. The genus lived during the Hettangian, Sinemurian, and Pliensbachian ages, which lasted from ca. 201 to 184 million years ago. Most fossils come from the upper Elliot and Clarens formations of South Africa and Lesotho, but the genus is also found in the Forest Sandstone and the Mpandi Formation of Zimbabwe. Material from the US, India, and Argentina was previously assigned to the genus, but the US and Argentinian specimens are now assigned to their own genera (Sarahsaurus and Adeopapposaurus). Because of their great abundance, Massospondylus fossils have been used to date rocks, and a biozone, the Massospondylus Range Zone, is named after the genus.

Two species are considered valid: the type species M. carinatus, as well as M. kaalae, which was named in 2009 and is known from a single skull. Six other species have been named during the past 150 years but are no longer recognised. Originally, Massospondylus and similar dinosaurs have been regarded as theropods, but are now classified as basal ("early diverging") members of Sauropodomorpha. This group also includes sauropods. Within sauropodomorphs, Massospondylus is often classified in the family Massospondylidae. The genus was 4–6 metres (13–20 ft) long, with a long neck and tail, a small head, and a slender body. It is distinguished from related genera by the very elongated vertebrae of the front portion of the neck, amongst other features. Although Massospondylus was long depicted as quadrupedal (four-legged), it is now considered to have been bipedal (two-legged).

It was probably a herbivore (plant-eater), although some have speculated that basal sauropodomorphs may have been omnivorous. On each of its hands, it bore a sharp thumb claw that was probably used in feeding, possibly to uproot vegetation or to pull down branches while rearing up. Clutches of eggs have been found, some of which contained embryos; these are among the oldest eggs and embryos of an amniote in the fossil record. The eggshell was extremely thin, less than 0.1 mm (0.0039 in), unlike the much thicker eggshells in later dinosaurs. The embryos had proportionally longer arms than adults and a very large head, leading researchers to suggest that they were quadrupedal and shifted to a bipedal posture later during growth. Newer research instead suggested that Massospondylus was bipedal at all ages. Individuals accelerated or slowed down their growth depending on environmental factors such as food availability. The oldest known specimen was around 20 years of age.