Keira Christina Righton, OBE (born 26 March 1985) is a British actress. She has starred in both independent films and big-budget blockbusters, and is particularly noted for her roles in period dramas. Her accolades include two Empire Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award and one Laurence Olivier Award. Knightley was appointed an OBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity. Born in London to actors Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald, Knightley obtained an agent at age six, and initially worked commercials and television films. She appeared as Sabé, Padmé Amidala's handmaiden, in science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). Despite her work, she struggled to break through until portraying a tomboy footballer in sports film Bend It Like Beckham (2001). Knightley achieved global stardom at age 18 for portraying Elizabeth Swann in fantasy swashbuckler series Pirates of the Caribbean. In the same year, she appeared in the Christmas romantic comedy Love Actually (2003) and was labelled a promising teen star. She portrayed Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright's adaption of Pride & Prejudice (2005), which earned Knightley her first nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. At age 20, she became the third-youngest Best Actress nominee. Knightley starred in a series of further period pieces, portraying a complex love interest in Atonement (2007), tastemaker Georgiana Cavendish in The Duchess (2008), and the titular socialite in Anna Karenina (2012). She then forayed into contemporary dramas, appearing as an aspiring musician in Begin Again (2013) and a medical student in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014). Knightley returned to historical films by playing cryptoanalyst Joan Clarke in The Imitation Game (2014), earning her a second round of Academy Award and BAFTA nominations, and starred as the eponymous belle époque writer in Colette (2018) to critical acclaim. On stage, Knightley has appeared in two West End productions: The Misanthrope in 2009, which earned her an Olivier Award nomination, and The Children's Hour in 2011. She also starred as the eponymous heroine in the 2015 Broadway production of Thérèse Raquin. Knightley is known for her outspoken stance on social issues, and has worked extensively with Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Comic Relief. Knightley married musician James Righton in 2013; they have two children. BiographyKeira Christina Knightley was born on 26 March 1985 in the Teddington suburb of London, to theatre actors Will Knightley and Sharman Macdonald. Her father is English and her mother is of Scottish and Welsh ancestry. She was meant to be named "Kiera", the anglicised form of "Kira", after Kira Ivanova, whom her father admired. However, her mother misspelled the name when she went to register Knightley, writing the "e" before the "i". Macdonald worked as a playwright after her career as an actress came to an end. Knightley has an older brother, Caleb.Knightley's parents encountered substantial financial difficulties after the birth of her brother. Knightley attended Teddington School. At age six, she was diagnosed with dyslexia but by the time she was 11, with her parents' support, Knightley says, "they deemed me to have got over it sufficiently." She is still a slow reader and cannot read out loud. At age three, she expressed the desire for an agent like her parents and got one at six. Knightley performed in a number of local amateur productions, which included After Juliet, written by her mother, and United States, written by her drama teacher. She focused on art, history, and English literature while studying at Esher College, but left after a year to pursue an acting career. Her mother's friends encouraged her to go to drama school, which she declined for financial and professional reasons. Since age six, Knightley began working in commercials and small television roles. Her first on-screen appearance was in the 1993 Screen One television episode titled "Royal Celebration". After appearing in a spate of television films through the mid-to-late 1990s, Knightley landed the role of Sabé, Padmé Amidala's handmaiden and decoy, in the 1999 science fiction blockbuster Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Her dialogue was dubbed over by Natalie Portman, who played Padmé. Knightley was cast in the role because of her close resemblance to Portman; even the two actresses' mothers had difficulty telling their daughters apart when they were in full make-up. In her first major role, the 2001 Walt Disney Productions feature film Princess of Thieves, Knightley played the daughter of Robin Hood. In preparation for the film, she trained for several weeks in archery, fencing, and horse riding. Knightley also took on the role of Lara Antipova in the 2002 miniseries adaptation of Doctor Zhivago, to positive reviews and high ratings. Despite having appeared in over a dozen film and television roles, Knightley struggled to get a breakthrough. That changed in 2002, when she starred in Gurinder Chadha's sports comedy film Bend It Like Beckham, which was a smash hit both in the UK and in the US, grossing over $76.6 million. Knightley portrayed Jules, a tomboy football player struggling against social norms who convinces her friend to pursue the sport. Knightley and her co-star Parminder Nagra attracted international attention for their performances in the film. Knightley portrayed the role of Elizabeth Swann, in the 2003 American fantasy swashbuckler film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The film, based on the Disney theme park attraction, revolves around infamous buccaneer Jack Sparrow and blacksmith Will Turner rescuing Swann, in possession of a cursed golden medallion, from 18th-century pirates. The film opened at number one on the box office, and became one of the highest-grossing releases of the year, with worldwide revenues of $654 million. Also in 2003, Knightley appeared in Richard Curtis' Christmas-themed romantic comedy Love Actually, featuring an ensemble cast, which included her childhood idol Emma Thompson. Knightley portrays Juliet, a woman whose fiancée’s best man is secretly in love with her. Knightley believes the film's trajectory to be "extraordinary", given that its popularity resurfaced a few years after the film's release. Knightley's most successful release in 2005 was Pride & Prejudice, a period drama based on Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. Knightley, who had admired the book from a young age, said of her character, "The beauty of Elizabeth is that every woman who ever reads the book seems to recognise herself, with all her faults and imperfections." On release, the film became a huge commercial success, with total collections of around US$120 million worldwide, and received positive reviews from critics. Knightley earned Best Actress in a Leading Role nominations at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards for her performance at age 20, becoming the third-youngest nominee for the latter. Knightley's consecutive successes came with increased media scrutiny, and she later admitted to having struggled with her mental health during this period. In 2006, she reprised her role as Elizabeth Swann in the second and third productions of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, released in July 2006. With the worldwide collections of $1.066 billion, it became the biggest financial hit in Knightley's career. The third instalment in the series, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, was released in May, the following year. In 2008, Knightley appeared in wartime drama The Edge of Love. The film had her play the role of Vera Phillips, a childhood friend of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and his wife Caitlin Macnamara. Knightley wrote the script with her mother, Sharman Macdonald, with Macnamara in mind. She based her performance on Marlene Dietrich. Knightley then starred as the 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire in Saul Dibb's period drama The Duchess (2008), based on the best-selling biographical novel, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. The film tells the story of Georgiana's rise in society as a sociopolitical tastemaker after her marriage deorientates. The script Knightley was sent was covered in "huge white ostrich feathers" and a gold ribbon. Knightley was attracted to her character's strength and status as a political influence and fashion prowess, while being inwardly vulnerable and isolated. The following year, she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award for Best Actress. Knightley made her West End debut with Martin Crimp's version of Molière's comedy The Misanthrope, staged at London's Comedy Theatre in December 2009. She portrayed Jennifer, a shallow, amorous, and vulnerable American film star who is courted by an analytical and veracious playwright. Knightley chose the role as she felt that "if I don't do theatre right now, I think I'm going to start being too terrified to do it" and described the production as an "extraordinary and incredibly fulfilling" experience. In recognition of her theatre debut, Knightley was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and an Evening Standard Award. Knightley began the new decade with three films, including Never Let Me Go, an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name. Knightley described the script as unique, one that made the reader think. Knightley played Ruth, one of three graduates of an autocratic boarding school that discovers their fates in a dystopia. Knightley starred in a 2011 revival of The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman at the Comedy Theatre in London. She portrayed Karen Wright, an engaged schoolteacher accused of lesbianism in 1934. Knightley's only film of 2011 was David Cronenberg's historical drama A Dangerous Method. Based on writer Christopher Hampton's 2002 stage play The Talking Cure and set on the eve of World War I, the film depicts the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein. Knightley portrayed Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young psychoanalyst who comes between Jung and Freud. Knightley spent four months reading and discussing her character's behavior with psychologists to prepare for the role.She appre ciated the depth and variety of her character arc, which she viewed as rare for female roles. The film premiered at the 68th Venice International Film Festival to a positive reception. In 2012 Knightley reunited with director Joe Wright to film their third production, Anna Karenina, in which she starred as the title character. She said this collaboration is the most important of her career. In 2014, Knightley played against Benedict Cumberbatch in Morten Tyldum's historical drama The Imitation Game, a film based on the life of British mathematician Alan Turing(Benedict Cumberbatch). Knightley portrayed cryptanalyst and numismatist Joan Clarke, who decrypted German intelligence codes for the British government during World War II with Turing. The Imitation Game became a critical and commercial success grossing over $233.6 million. For her performance, Knightley received her second Academy Award and BAFTA Award nominations, and third Golden Globe Award nomination, all for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In October 2015, Knightley made her Broadway debut playing the title role in Helen Edmundson's adaptation of Émile Zola's Thérèse Raquin at Studio 54. In 2018, Knightley starred in the biographical drama Colette as the titular French author. The film depicts Colette's social ascent in belle époque society through her provocative novels, but is exploited by her husband, who plagiarizes her work. The film, released at the Sundance Film Festival, was critically successful, with Knightley's performance receiving acclaim. Despite multiple successful films and award nominations, the criticism affected her, and Knightley felt that she "didn't know [her] trade." Media scrutiny decreased as her career progressed, and she spaces out her public appearances to maintain attention on her films. Beginning in the 2010s, Knightley regained confidence in her abilities, and by the release of Colette (2018), she felt she had learned her craft and mentally occupied a "good place where I feel pretty confident about what I can do". Knightley has been widely recognized for her extenstive repertoire of period dramas throughout her career and is reputed for her signature "strong female lead" parts. She has been compared to actresses Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Audrey Hepburn, and Nicole Kidman. In a 2004 BBC poll, Knightleywas named among the most influential people in British culture. She has been included several times on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" list, making her first appearance in 2004 and topping the list in 2006; she was included in every subsequent issue until 2009. She was part of the American editions of the list from 2004 to 2006, and was also placed ninth on the Maxim Hot 100 list in 2006. Knightley is the face of an Amnesty International campaign to support human rights, marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She is also involved in various other charity works. Knightley was the celebrity face for the luxury goods brands like Aspres, Shiatzy Chen, Lux haircare products, Chanel's perfume Coco Mademoiselle, and has endorsed Chanel Fine Jewellery's collection Coco Crush. In 2008, Knightley was the highest-earning British Hollywood star according to the Forbes Celebrity 100 list and was named amongst the most bankable actors in 2009. Knightley began a relationship with musician James Righton in February 2011. They were married on 4 May 2013 in Mazan, France. The couple have two daughters, Edie, born in May 2015, and Delilah, born in September 2019. The family live in Canonbury, London.
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William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he helped win acceptance of socialism in fin de siècle Great Britain. Morris was born in Walthamstow, Essex, to a wealthy middle-class family. He came under the strong influence of medievalism while studying Classics at Oxford University, there joining the Birmingham Set. After university, he married Jane Burden, and developed close friendships with Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and with Neo-Gothic architect Philip Webb. Webb and Morris designed Red House in Kent where Morris lived from 1859 to 1865, before moving to Bloomsbury, central London. In 1861, Morris founded the Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. decorative arts firm with Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, and others, which became highly fashionable and much in demand. The firm profoundly influenced interior decoration throughout the Victorian period, with Morris designing tapestries, wallpaper, fabrics, furniture, and stained glass windows. In 1875, he assumed total control of the company, which was renamed Morris & Co. Morris rented the rural retreat of Kelmscott Manor, Oxfordshire, from 1871 while also retaining a main home in London. He was greatly influenced by visits to Iceland with Eiríkr Magnússon, and he produced a series of English-language translations of Icelandic Sagas. He also achieved success with the publication of his epic poems and novels, namely The Earthly Paradise (1868–1870), A Dream of John Ball (1888), the Utopian News from Nowhere (1890), and the fantasy romance The Well at the World's End (1896). In 1877, he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings to campaign against the damage caused by architectural restoration. He embraced Marxism and was influenced by anarchism in the 1880s and became a committed revolutionary socialist activist. He founded the Socialist League in 1884 after an involvement in the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), but he broke with that organisation in 1890. In 1891, he founded the Kelmscott Press to publish limited-edition, illuminated-style print books, a cause to which he devoted his final years. Morris is recognised as one of the most significant cultural figures of Victorian Britain. He was best known in his lifetime as a poet, although he posthumously became better known for his designs. The William Morris Society founded in 1955 is devoted to his legacy, while multiple biographies and studies of his work have been published. Many of the buildings associated with his life are open to visitors, much of his work can be found in art galleries and museums, and his designs are still in production. BiographyWilliam Morris was born at Elm House in Walthamstow, Essex, on 24 March 1834. Raised into a wealthy middle-class family, he was named after his father, a financier who worked as a partner in the Sanderson & Co. firm, bill brokers in the City of London. His mother was Emma Morris who descended from a wealthy bourgeois family. Morris was the third of his parents' surviving 9 children. The Morris family were followers of the evangelical Protestant form of Christianity, and William was baptised four months after his birth at St. Mary's Church, Walthamstow. As a child, Morris was kept largely housebound at Elm House by his mother; there, he spent much time reading, favouring the novels of Walter Scott. Aged 6, Morris moved with his family to the Georgian Italianate mansion at Woodford Hall, Woodford, Essex, which was surrounded by 50 acres of land adjacent to Epping Forest. He took an interest in fishing with his brothers as well as gardening in the Hall's grounds, and spent much time exploring the Forest. He also took rides through the Essex countryside on his pony, and visited the various churches and cathedrals throughout the country, marveling at their architecture. His father also took him on visits outside of the county. Aged 9, he was then sent to Misses Arundale's Academy for Young Gentlemen, a nearby preparatory school; although initially riding there by pony each day, he later began boarding, intensely disliking the experience. In 1847, Morris's father died unexpectedly. From this point, the family relied upon continued income from the copper mines at Devon Great Consols, and sold Woodford Hall to move into the smaller Water House. In February 1848 Morris began his studies at Marlborough College in Marlborough, Wiltshire, where he gained a reputation as an eccentric nicknamed "Crab". He despised his time there, being bullied, bored, and homesick. He did use the opportunity to visit many of the prehistoric sites of Wiltshire. The school was Anglican in faith and in March 1849 Morris was confirmed by the Bishop of Salisbury in the college chapel, developing an enthusiastic attraction towards the Anglo-Catholic movement and its Romanticist aesthetic. At Christmas 1851, Morris was removed from the school and returned to Water House, where he was privately tutored. In June 1852 Morris entered Exeter College at Oxford University. He disliked the college and was bored by the manner in which they taught him Classics. Instead he developed a keen interest in Medieval history and Medieval architecture, inspired by the many Medieval buildings in Oxford. This interest was tied to Britain's growing Medievalist movement, a form of Romanticism that rejected many of the values of Victorian industrial capitalism. For Morris, the Middle Ages represented an era with strong chivalric values and an organic, pre-capitalist sense of community, both of which he deemed preferable to his own period. This attitude was compounded by his reading of Thomas Carlyle's book Past and Present (1843), in which Carlyle championed Medieval values as a corrective to the problems of Victorian society. Under this influence, Morris's dislike of contemporary capitalism grew. At the college, Morris met fellow first-year undergraduate Edward Burne-Jones, who became his lifelong friend and collaborator. Although from very different backgrounds, they found that they had a shared attitude to life, both being keenly interested in Anglo-Catholicism and Arthurianism. Through Burne-Jones, Morris joined a group of undergraduates from Birmingham who were studying at Pembroke College: William Fulford, Richard Watson Dixon, Charles Faulkner, and Cormell Price. They were known among themselves as the "Brotherhood" and to historians as the Birmingham Set. Morris was the most affluent member of the Set, and was generous with his wealth toward the others. Like Morris, the Set were fans of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and would meet together to recite the plays of William Shakespeare. William Morris was heavily influenced by the writings of the art critic John Ruskin, being particularly inspired by his chapter "On the Nature of Gothic Architecture" in the second volume of The Stones of Venice; he later described it as "one of the very few necessary and inevitable utterances of the century". Morris adopted Ruskin's philosophy of rejecting the tawdry industrial manufacture of decorative arts and architecture in favour of a return to hand-craftsmanship, raising artisans to the status of artists, creating art that should be affordable and hand-made, with no hierarchy of artistic mediums. Ruskin had achieved attention in Victorian society for championing the art of a group of painters who had emerged in London in 1848 calling themselves the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The Pre-Raphaelite style was heavily Medievalist and Romanticist, emphasising abundant detail, intense colours and complex compositions; it greatly impressed Morris and the Set. Influenced both by Ruskin and by John Keats, Morris began to spend more time writing poetry, in a style that was imitative of much of theirs. Both he and Burne-Jones were influenced by the Romanticist milieu and the Anglo-Catholic movement, and decided to become clergymen in order to found a monastery where they could live a life of chastity and dedication to artistic pursuit, akin to that of the contemporary Nazarene movement. However, as time went on Morris became increasingly critical of Anglican doctrine and the idea faded. In summer 1854, Morris travelled to Belgium to look at Medieval paintings, and in July 1855 went with Burne-Jones and Fulford across northern France, visiting Medieval churches and cathedrals. It was on this trip that he and Burne-Jones committed themselves to "a life of art". For Morris, this decision resulted in a strained relationship with his family, who believed that he should have entered either commerce or the clergy. On a subsequent visit to Birmingham, Morris discovered Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, which became a core Arthurian text for him and Burne-Jones. In January 1856, the Set began publication of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine, designed to contain "mainly Tales, Poetry, friendly critiques and social articles". Mainly funded by Morris, who briefly served as editor and heavily contributed to it with his own stories, poems, reviews and articles, the magazine lasted for twelve issues, and garnered praise from Tennyson and Ruskin. Having passed his finals and been awarded a BA, Morris began an apprenticeship with the Oxford-based Neo-Gothic architect George Edmund Street in January 1856. His apprenticeship focused on architectural drawing, and there he was placed under the supervision of the young architect Philip Webb, who became a close friend. In August 1856 he moved into a flat in Bloomsbury in Central London with Burne-Jones, an area perhaps chosen for its avant-garde associations. Morris was fascinated by London but dismayed at its pollution and rapid expansion into neighbouring countryside, describing it as "the spreading sore". Morris became increasingly fascinated with the idyllic Medievalist depictions of rural life which appeared in the paintings of the Pre-Raphaelites, and spent large sums of money purchasing such artworks. Burne-Jones shared this interest, but took it further by becoming an apprentice to one of the foremost Pre-Raphaelite painters, Dante Gabriel Rossetti; the three soon became close friends. Through Rossetti, Morris came to associate with poet Robert Browning, and the artists Arthur Hughes, Thomas Woolner, and Ford Madox Brown. Tired of architecture, Morris abandoned his apprenticeship, with Rossetti persuading him to take up painting instead, which he chose to do in the Pre-Raphaelite style. Morris aided Rossetti and Burne-Jones in painting the Arthurian murals at the Oxford Union, although his contributions were widely deemed inferior and unskilled compared to those of the others. At Rossetti's recommendation, Morris and Burne-Jones moved in together to the flat at Bloomsbury's No. 17 Red Lion Square by November 1856. Morris designed and commissioned furniture for the flat in a Medieval style, much of which he painted with Arthurian scenes in a direct rejection of mainstream artistic tastes. Morris also continued writing poetry and began designing illuminated manuscripts and embroidered hangings. In March 1857 Bell and Dandy published a book of Morris's poems, The Defence of Guenevere, which was largely self-funded by the author. It did not sell well and garnered few reviews, most of which were unsympathetic. Disconcerted, Morris would not publish again for a further eight years. In October 1857 Morris met Jane Burden, a woman from a poor working-class background, at a theatre performance. Rosetti initially asked her to model for him. Controversially both Rosetti and Morris were smitten with her; Morris, however, began a relationship with her and they were engaged in spring 1858 and were married in a low-key ceremony held at St Michael at the North Gate church in Oxford on 26 April 1859, before honeymooning in Bruges, Belgium, and settling temporarily at 41 Great Ormond Street, London. Their first daughter was Jane"Jenny" was born in January 1861, and second daughter Mary "May" Morris in March 1862, Morris was a caring father to his daughters, and years later they both recounted having idyllic childhoods. However, there were problems in Morris's marriage as Janey became increasingly close to Rossetti, who often painted her. Jane Burden would later admit that she never loved Morris. In April 1861, Morris founded a decorative arts company, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., with six other partners: Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, Ford Madox Brown, Charles Faulkner, and Peter Paul Marshall. Operating from premises at No. 6 Red Lion Square, they referred to themselves as "the Firm" and were intent on adopting Ruskin's ideas of reforming British attitudes to production. They hoped to reinstate decoration as one of the fine arts and adopted an ethos of affordability and anti-elitism. Although working within the Neo-Gothic school of design, they sought to return completely to Medieval Gothic methods of craftmanship. The products created by the Firm included furniture, architectural carving, metalwork, stained glass windows, and murals. Their stained glass windows proved a particular success in the firm's early years as they were in high demand for the surge in the Neo-Gothic construction and refurbishment of churches. Morris was slowly abandoning painting, recognising that his work lacked a sense of movement; none of his paintings are dated later than 1862. Instead he focused his energies on designing wallpaper patterns, the first being "Trellis", designed in 1862. Morris desired a new home for himself and his daughters resulting in the construction of the Red House in the Kentish hamlet of Upton near Bexleyheath, ten miles from central London. The building's design was a co-operative effort, with Morris focusing on the interiors and the exterior being designed by Webb, for whom the House represented his first commission as an independent architect. Named after the red bricks and red tiles from which it was constructed, Red House rejected architectural norms by being L-shaped. Influenced by various forms of contemporary Neo-Gothic architecture, the House was nevertheless unique, with Morris describing it as "very mediaeval in spirit". Situated within an orchard, the house and garden were intricately linked in their design. It took a year to construct, and cost Morris £4000 at a time when his fortune was greatly reduced by a dramatic fall in the price of his shares. Burne-Jones described it as "the beautifullest place on Earth." After construction, Morris invited friends to visit, most notably Burne-Jones and his wife Georgiana, as well as Rossetti and his wife Lizzie Siddal. They aided him in painting murals on the furniture, walls, and ceilings, much of it based on Arthurian tales, the Trojan War, and Geoffrey Chaucer's stories, while he also designed floral embroideries for the rooms. They also spent much time playing tricks on each other, enjoying games like hide and seek, and singing while accompanied by the piano. Imagining the creation of an artistic community at Upton, Morris helped develop plans for a second house to be constructed adjacent to Red House in which Burne-Jones could live with his family; the plans were abandoned when Burne-Jones' son Christopher died from scarlet fever. By 1864, Morris had become increasingly tired of life at Red House, being particularly unhappy with the 3 to 4 hours spent commuting to his London workplace on a daily basis. He sold Red House, and in autumn 1865 moved with his family to No. 26 Queen Square in Bloomsbury, the same building to which the Firm had moved its base of operations earlier in the summer. At Queen Square, the Morris family lived in a flat directly above the Firm's shop. The Firm's work received increasing interest from people in the United States, resulting in Morris's acquaintance with Henry James and Charles Eliot Norton. However, despite its success, the Firm was not turning over a large net profit, and this, coupled with the decreasing value of Morris' stocks, meant that he had to decrease his spending. short, burly, corpulent, very careless and unfinished in his dress ... He has a loud voice and a nervous restless manner and a perfectly unaffected and businesslike address. His talk indeed is wonderfully to the point and remarkable for clear good sense." Jane's relationship with Rossetti had continued, and by the late 1860s gossip regarding their affair had spread about London, where they were regularly seen spending time together. Morris had continued to devote much time to writing poetry. In 1867 Bell and Dandy published Morris's epic poem, The Life and Death of Jason, at his own expense. The book was a retelling of the ancient Greek myth of the hero Jason and his quest to find the Golden Fleece. In contrast to Morris's former publication, The Life and Death of Jason was well received, resulting in the publishers paying Morris a fee for the second edition. From 1865 to 1870, Morris worked on another epic poem, The Earthly Paradise. Designed as a homage to Chaucer, it consisted of 24 stories, adopted from an array of different cultures, and each by a different narrator; set in the late 14th century, the synopsis revolved around a group of Norsemen who flee the Black Death by sailing away from Europe, on the way discovering an island where the inhabitants continue to venerate the ancient Greek gods. Published in four parts by F. S. Ellis, it soon gained a cult following and established Morris' reputation as a major poet. By 1870, Morris had become a public figure in Britain, resulting in repeated press requests for photographs, which he despised. Morris was keenly interested in Icelandic literature, having befriended the Icelandic theologian Eiríkur Magnússon. Together they produced prose translations of the Eddas and Sagas for publication in English. Morris also developed a keen interest in creating handwritten illuminated manuscripts, producing 18 such books between 1870 and 1875, the first of which was A Book of Verse, completed as a birthday present for Georgina Burne-Jones. Morris deemed calligraphy to be an art form, and taught himself both Roman and italic script, as well as learning how to produce gilded letters. By 1871, he had begun work on a novel set in the present, The Novel on Blue Paper, which was about a love triangle; it would remain unfinished and Morris later asserted that it was not well written. By early summer 1871, Morris began to search for a house outside London where his children could spend time away from the city's pollution. He settled on Kelmscott Manor in the village of Kelmscott, Oxfordshire, obtaining a joint tenancy on the building with Rossetti in June. Morris adored the building, which was constructed circa 1570, and would spend much time in the local countryside. Morris divided his time between London and Kelmscott, however when Rossetti was there he would not spend more than three days at a time at the latter. He became fed up with his family home in Queen Square, and relocated his family to Horrington House in Turnham Green Road, West London, in January 1873. In July 1874 Rossetti left Kelmscott, as a result of the deteriorating friendship between him and Morris. In March 1875, Morris paid £1000 each in compensation to the Firm's partners Rossetti, Brown, and Marshall, although the other partners waived their claims to financial compensation, and The Firm was replaced by Morris & Co. Morris took an increased interest in the process of textile dyeing as a necessary adjunct of his manufacturing business and entered into a co-operative agreement with Thomas Wardle, a silk dyer who operated the Hencroft Works in Staffordshire. As a result, Morris would spend time with Wardle at his home on various occasions between summer 1875 and spring 1878, mastering the processes of that art and making experiments in the revival of old or discovery of new methods. Deeming the colours to be of inferior quality, Morris rejected the chemical aniline dyes which were then predominant, instead emphasizing the revival of organic dyes. One result of these experiments was to reinstate indigo dyeing as a practical industry and generally to renew the use of those vegetable dyes, such as walnut shells and roots for brown, and cochineal, kermes, and madder for red, which had been driven almost out of use by the anilines. Dyeing of wools, silks, and cottons was the necessary preliminary to what he had much at heart, the production of woven and printed fabrics of the highest excellence. After learning the skills of dyeing, in the late 1870s Morris turned his attention to weaving, experimenting with silk weaving at Queen's Square. Morris's patterns for woven textiles, some of which were also machine made under ordinary commercial conditions, included intricate double-woven furnishing fabrics in which two sets of warps and wefts are interlinked to create complex gradations of colour and texture. Morris long dreamed of weaving tapestries in the medieval manner, which he called "the noblest of the weaving arts." In September 1879 he finished his first solo effort, a small piece called "Cabbage and Vine". Meanwhile he continued with his literary output. Morris translated his own version of Virgil's Aeneid, titling it The Aeneids of Vergil (1876). Although many translations were already available, often produced by trained Classicists, Morris claimed that his unique perspective was as "a poet not a pedant". He also continued producing translations of Icelandic tales with Magnússon. In summer 1876 Morris' daughter Jenny Morris was diagnosed with epilepsy. Refusing to allow her to be societally marginalised or institutionalised, as was common in the period, Morris insisted that she be cared for by the family. In 1877 Morris was approached by Oxford University and offered the largely honorary position of Professor of Poetry. He declined, asserting that he felt unqualified. In March 1877 he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), which he personally referred to as "Anti-Scrape", to combat the increasing trend for restoration. That same spring, he opened a store at No. 449 Oxford Street and obtained new staff who were able to improve its professionalism; as a result, sales increased and its popularity grew. In April 1879 Morris moved the family home again, this time renting an 18th-century mansion on Hammersmith's Upper Mall in West London owned by the novelist George MacDonald, Morris would name it Kelmscott House and re-decorate it according to his own taste. In the House's grounds he set up a workshop, focusing on the production of hand-knotted carpets. He revived a number of dead techniques, and insisted on the use of good quality raw materials, almost all natural dyes, and hand processing, and insisted on learning the techniques of production prior to producing a design. Morris taught himself embroidery, working with wool on a frame custom-built from an old example. Once he had mastered the technique he trained his wife Jane, her sister Bessie Burden and others to execute designs to his specifications. When "embroideries of all kinds" were offered through Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. catalogues, church embroidery became and remained an important line of business for its successor companies into the twentieth century. By 1880, Morris & Co. had become a household name, having become very popular with Britain's upper and middle classes, obtaining increasing numbers of commissions from aristocrats, wealthy industrialists, and provincial entrepreneurs, with Morris furnishing parts of St James's Palace and the chapel at Eaton Hall. In summer 1881, Morris took out a lease on the seven-acre former silk weaving factory, the Merton Abbey Works, next to the River Wandle on the High Street at Merton, Southwest London. Moving his workshops to the site, the premises were used for weaving, dyeing, and creating stained glass; within three years, 100 craftsmen were employed there. Working conditions at the Abbey were better than at most Victorian factories. Rossetti died in April 1882. Jane, who continued her relationship with Rossetti through a correspondence and occasional visits, last saw him in 1881. Morris described his mixed feelings toward his deceased friend Rossetti by stating that he had "some of the very greatest qualities of genius, most of them indeed; what a great man he would have been but for the arrogant misanthropy which marred his work, and killed him before his time". In 1883, he opened up another store in Manchester and held a stand at that year's Foreign Fair in Boston, USA. In August 1883, His wife Jane was introduced to the poet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, with whom she embarked on another affair. By now, William Morris has been increasingly involved in politics, devoting to the socialist cause, which meant he saw less of Burne-Jones who did not share his opinion, and less time for his literature pursuit. In April 1887, Reeves and Turner published the first volume of Morris' translation of Homer's Odyssey, with the second following in November. In December 1888, the Chiswick Press published Morris' The House of the Wolfings, a fantasy story set in Iron Age Europe which provides a reconstructed portrait of the lives of Germanic-speaking Gothic tribes. It contained both prose and aspects of poetic verse. A sequel, The Roots of the Mountains, followed in 1889. Over the coming years he would publish a string of other poetic works. Following the death of the sitting Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in October 1892, Morris was offered the position, but turned it down, disliking its associations with the monarchy and political establishment. Morris' influence on Britain's artistic community became increasingly apparent as the Art Workers' Guild was founded in 1884, although at the time he was too preoccupied with his socialist activism to pay it any attention. Morris was elected to the Guild in 1888, and to the position of master in 1892. The work of Morris & Co. continued during Morris' final years, producing an array of stained glass windows designed by Burne-Jones. In January 1891, Morris began renting a cottage near to Kelmscott House, which would serve as the first premises of the Kelmscott Press. Devoted to the production of books which he deemed beautiful, Morris was artistically influenced by the illustrated manuscripts and early printed books of Medieval and Early Modern Europe. It was his ambition to produce a perfect work to restore all the beauty of illuminated lettering, richness of gilding and grace of binding that used to make a volume the treasure of a king. His efforts were constantly directed towards giving the world at least one book that exceeded anything that had ever appeared. Before publishing its first work, Morris ensured that he had mastered the techniques of printing and secured the supplies of hand-made paper and binding materials necessary for production. As a result only the wealthy could purchase his lavish works; Morris realized that creating works in the manner of the middle ages was difficult in a profit-grinding society. Over the next seven years, they published 66 volumes, 23 of them are Morris' books, and editions of works by Keats, Shelley, Ruskin, and Swinburne, as well as copies of various Medieval texts. The Press' magnum opus was the Kelmscott Chaucer, which had taken years to complete and included 87 illustrations by Burne-Jones. The press was closed in 1898. The Kelmscott Press influenced much of the fine press movement in England and the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It brought the need for books that were aesthetic objects as well as words to the attention of the reading and publishing worlds. By the early 1890s, Morris was increasingly ill and living largely as an invalid; aside from his gout, he also exhibited signs of epilepsy. In 1896, he became a complete invalid, being visited by friends and family, before dying of tuberculosis on the morning of 4 October 1896. Obituaries appearing throughout the national press reflected that at the time, Morris was widely recognised primarily as a poet. His funeral was held on 6 October, during which his corpse was carried from Hammersmith to Paddington rail station, where it was transported to Oxford, and from there to Kelmscott, where it was buried in the churchyard of St. George's Church. During his lifetime, apart from his prolific literature outputs both in writing and translation, William Morris produced items in a range of crafts, mainly those to do with furnishing, including over 600 designs for wall-paper, textiles, and embroideries, over 150 for stained glass windows, three typefaces, and around 650 borders and ornamentations for the Kelmscott Press. He emphasised the idea that the design and production of an item should not be divorced from one another, and that where possible those creating items should be designer-craftsmen, thereby both designing and manufacturing their goods.
ProfileAgnès Sorel (1422 – 9 February 1450), known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté (Lady of Beauty), was a favourite and chief mistress of King Charles VII of France, by whom she bore four daughters. She is considered the first officially recognized royal mistress of a French king. She was the subject of several contemporary paintings and works of art, including Jean Fouquet's Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels. Agnès Sorel, née vers 1422, et morte le 9 février 1450 au Mesnil-sous-Jumièges, est une demoiselle d'honneur d'Isabelle Ire de Lorraine, épouse de René d'Anjou. Elle devient en 1443 la favorite du roi de France Charles VII, à qui elle donne trois filles qui seront légitimées comme princesses de France et mariées à des grands seigneurs de la cour. Elle meurt avant l'âge de vingt-huit ans, après avoir donné naissance à une quatrième fille qui n'a pas survécu BiographyBorn in 1422, the daughter of Jean Soreau and Catherine de Maignelais, Sorel was 20 or 21 years old when she was first introduced to King Charles. At that time, she was holding a position in the household of Rene I of Naples, as a maid of honour to his consort Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. Sorel then went on to serve as the lady-in-waiting for Marie d'Anjou, Charles VII of France's wife and Isabella's sister in law. The King gave her the Château de Loches (where he had been persuaded by Joan of Arc to be crowned King of France) as her private residence. Sorel had a very strong influence on the king, and that, in addition to her extravagant tastes, earned her powerful enemies at court. Sorel would become the first officially recognized royal mistress of a French king. Sorel generated scandal at court, particularly for popularizing the fashion of low-cut gowns. This behavior was both imitated and scorned. Jean Juvénal des Ursins, the archbishop of Reims, counseled the king to correct such fashions as "front openings through which one sees the teats, nipples, and breasts of women" (ouvertures de par devant, par lesquelles on voit les tetins, tettes et seing des femmes). Agnès Sorel gave birth to four daughters fathered by the king, and while pregnant with their fourth child, she journeyed from Chinon in midwinter to join Charles on the campaign of 1450 in Jumièges, wanting to be with him as moral support. There, she suddenly became ill, and after giving birth, she and her daughter died on 9 February 1450. She was 28 years old. Her cousin Antoinette de Maignelais took her place as mistress to the king after her death. While the cause of death was originally thought to be dysentery, French forensic scientist Philippe Charlier suggested in 2005 that Agnès died of mercury poisoning. He offered no opinion about whether she was murdered. Mercury was sometimes used in cosmetic preparations or to treat worms, and such use might have brought about her death. She was interred in the Church of St. Ours, in Loches. Her heart was buried in the Benedictine Abbey of Jumièges. Two garments use Sorel's name in their descriptors, Effigy of Agnès Sorel bodice, Effigy of Agnès Sorel corsage and a fashion style named after her as well, Effigy of Agnès Sorel style, which is described as a "princess" style of dressing. BiographieSelon les historiens, Agnès Sorel serait née, soit à Coudun, près de Compiègne en Picardie, soit à Fromenteau, paroisse d'Yseures en Touraine. Son père, Jean Sorel, ou Soreau, est châtelain et seigneur de Coudun. Il épouse Catherine de Maignelay, fille de Jean Tristan de Maignelay, châtelain et seigneur de Verneuil-en-Bourbonnais, et de Marie de Jouy. Agnès, issue d'une famille noble d'ancienne extraction, a quatre frères : Charles (né avant 1428), écuyer d'hôtel du roi ; Louis, écuyer ; André, chanoine à Paris (1452), et Jean, seigneur de Saint-Gérand. Issue donc de la petite noblesse, c’est en Picardie qu’elle reçut une éducation soignée. On pense qu'elle aurait vécu au château de Maignelay-Montigny et que, selon l'usage qui était d'envoyer les jeunes demoiselles parfaire leur formation dans la haute aristocratie, on la prépara à occuper à la cour la charge enviée de demoiselle de compagnie d'Isabelle, duchesse de Lorraine, reine de Sicile et femme du roi René, beau-frère de Charles VII. Cette charge n'était pas convoitée pour les avantages matériels qu’elle procurait : Agnès Sorel, placée à la cour de Lorraine vers l'âge de quinze ans, ne recevait que dix livres par an, contrairement à d'autres demoiselles de cette cour, telle Catherine de Serocourt, cousine de Jean de Serocourt, capitaine de Tarascon, qui se voyait octroyer la somme de quinze livres tournois. Elle lui était destinée dès son plus jeune âge du fait de sa naissance et des recommandations dont elle bénéficiait. Selon les commentateurs, qui s'appuient sur les chroniques de Monstrelet ou de Jean Chartier, la rencontre entre la jeune femme et le roi, impressionné par sa beauté, a lieu à Toulouse le 19 mars 1443, lorsque Charles reçoit en grand cérémonial son beau-frère René et Isabelle de Lorraine dans la suite desquels Agnès paraît pour la première fois, ou bien à Saumur en septembre 1443. Le roi de France, Charles VII, de vingt ans son aîné, la fait entrer au service de la maison angevine en 1444 pour la rapprocher de lui. Officiellement, elle est demoiselle de la maison de la reine Marie d'Anjou. Après avoir cédé à la cour de Charles VII, elle passe au rang de première dame officieuse du royaume de France puis gagne rapidement le statut de favorite officielle, ce qui est une nouveauté : les rois de France avaient jusque-là des maîtresses mais elles devaient rester dans l'ombre. Charles VII a d'ailleurs eu d'autres maîtresses, mais elles n'ont pas eu l'importance d'Agnès Sorel. C'est durant le séjour de Charles VII à Nancy, capitale du Duché de Lorraine, lors de fêtes royales vers la fin de l'année 1444, que le roi joute pour sa belle lors d'un tournoi. Il affiche à cette occasion sa maîtresse officielle qui fait sensation en apparaissant le dernier jour revêtue « d'une armure d'argent incrustée de gemmes ». Son art de vivre et ses extravagances rejettent la reine dans l’ombre. Les voiles et autres guimpes sont abandonnés. Elle invente le décolleté épaules nues, qualifié de « ribaudise et dissolution » par quelques chroniqueurs religieux de l’époque. De vertigineuses pyramides surmontent sa coiffure. Des traînes allant jusqu’à huit mètres de long allongent ses robes bordées de fourrures précieuses : martre ou zibeline. Elle met à la mode chemises en toile fine, colliers de perles. Elle traite sa peau avec des onguents faisant office de peeling, une crème contre les rides tous les matins et des masques au miel pour la nuit. Elle se maquille avec un fard à base de farine et d'os de seiche pilés qui lui donne un teint d'albâtre très prisé à l'époque, se met du rouge à lèvres à base de pétales de coquelicots, ce qui est condamné par les prédicateurs du Moyen Âge. Elle se fait épiler les sourcils et les cheveux sur le haut du front, ce dernier étant devenu le pôle érotique du corps de la femme à cette époque. Il ne s'agit pas de la « mode florentine » pour se donner un front plus bombé, mais pour équilibrer ses traits car elle a de très grands yeux disproportionnés par rapport à son visage. Rien qu’en 1444, le roi lui offre vingt mille six cents écus de bijoux dont des diamants taillés dont elle est la première à parer sa coiffure si l'on en croit les chroniqueurs de l'époque Pour se procurer ces atours précieux, elle devient la meilleure cliente de Jacques Cœur, marchand international (qui importe du Levant des étoffes de luxe inédites en Europe en contrevenant aux prescriptions de l'Église) et grand argentier du roi, qui a amassé des trésors dans son palais de Bourges. Elle consomme de grandes quantités d'étoffes précieuses et, bien sûr, toutes les femmes de la cour l’imitent. Agnès Sorel sait jouer de son influence auprès du roi en compagne aimante de l'homme d'État. Elle impose ses amis au roi ou s'acquiert la faveur des conseillers de la Couronne, qui voient en elle le moyen de s’assurer la bienveillance royale, tels Pierre de Brézé, Étienne Chevalier, Guillaume d'Estouteville, Guillaume Cousinot, Prigent VII de Coëtivy ou Jacques Cœur. C’est grâce à ces manœuvres que le roi, en l'espace de quelques mois, lui octroie les fiefs de Beauté (d’où le surnom bien connu de « Dame de Beauté »), Vernon, Issoudun, Roquesezière et lui offre le domaine de Loches. Elle y fait aménager le château qui surplombe la ville. Le dauphin Louis, futur Louis XI, ne supporte pas la relation d’Agnès avec son père. Il estime que sa mère est bafouée et a de plus en plus de mal à l'accepter. Un jour il laisse éclater sa rancœur et poursuit, l’épée à la main, l’infortunée Agnès dans les pièces de la maison royale. Pour lui échapper, elle se réfugie dans le lit du roi. Charles VII, courroucé par tant d’impertinence, chasse son fils de la cour et l’envoie gouverner le Dauphiné. Agnès porte les enfants du royal géniteur et accouche. Elle attend avec ses suivantes à Razilly près de Chinon, dans sa résidence de Loches (le logis Royal de Loches), à Beaulieu la ville voisine de Loches où elle s'installe au château ouvert de Courcelles (Loiret), à Dames près de Mehun-sur-Yèvre, le retour du guerrier ou du chasseur. Croyante, elle fait régulièrement des pèlerinages et des offrandes à l'Église, favorisant de manière généreuse les chanoines de Loches. Elle donne à son royal amant trois filles , les « bâtardes de France » (puisque nées hors mariage), mais qu'il légitime et qu'il dote richement, par ordre de primogéniture. Une de sa filles Charlotte de Valois devient, en 1462, l’épouse de Jacques de Brézé, sénéchal de Normandie. Son fils, Louis de Brézé, épousera Diane de Poitiers. Ces naissances font écrire aux moralistes Thomas Basin et Jean Jouvenel des Ursins qu’Agnès est responsable du réveil sensuel de Charles VII. Ils jugent sévèrement sa liberté de mœurs et l’accusent de faire de ce roi « chaste » un roi débauché, entièrement soumis à ses maîtresses. Sitôt installée par Charles au Manoir de la Vigne au Mesnil-sous-Jumièges près de Rouen, elle est soudainement prise d'un « flux de ventre » selon Jean Chartier, chroniqueur officiel de la cour, et meurt en quelques heures le 9 février 1450, En donnant naissance à un enfant prématuré de sept mois, sa dernière fille, qui meurt rapidement après sa naissance, celle qui fut la première maîtresse officielle d’un roi de France meurt à l'âge de vingt-huit ans, officiellement d'une infection puerpérale. Elle a le temps de léguer ses biens à la collégiale de Loches pour que des messes y soient dites pour le repos de son âme, à l'abbaye de Jumièges où est déposé son cœur, ainsi qu'aux membres de sa famille et au roi à qui elle lègue ses bijoux. Trois mois après la mort d'Agnès Sorel, Antoinette de Maignelais, la cousine germaine d'Agnès, prenait sa place dans le lit du roi ; le roi la mariera rapidement, en 1450, à André de Villequier, un de ses chambellans, et, peu après, Antoinette recevait la seigneurie d'Issoudun. Sa mort est si rapide qu'on soupçonne un empoisonnement. On accuse même Jacques Cœur ou le dauphin, futur Louis XI, ennemi du parti qu’elle soutenait. L'analyse des restes de son cadavre, à l'occasion de l'ultime déplacement de son gisant dans la collégiale Saint-Ours de Loches, programmé en juin 2004 pour des raisons muséographiques par le conseil général d'Indre-et-Loire, a révélé qu'elle était atteinte d'ascaridiose, son tube digestif étant infesté d’œufs d'ascaris ; et qu'elle avait absorbé une dose massive de sels de mercure, une purge utilisée à moindre dose en association avec la fougère mâle pour bloquer la croissance des parasites. Le mercure était aussi utilisé pour les accouchements longs et difficiles et pour les suites d'accouchement, mais là encore à dose nettement réduite par rapport à ce qui a été trouvé lors de ces récentes analyses. C'est l'ingestion d'une dose excessive de ce métal lourd qui a entraîné le syndrome dysentérique puis la mort en moins de soixante-douze heures. Le mercure était alors administré sous forme liquide, dans des pilules de mie de pain pour prévenir les brûlures d'estomac. Cependant, la quantité de mercure détectée dans un poil de l'aisselle s'est révélée dix mille à cent mille fois supérieure à celle attendue de l'absorption de doses thérapeutiques, et il est difficile de croire à une erreur médicale. Le suicide est une hypothèse mais celle de l'empoisonnement de cette jeune mère vulnérable qui se relève de couches est nettement plus plausible. Further interestArticles Books Videos Documentary
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