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POLENTA, DA

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 978 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POLENTA, DA , the name of a See also:castle in Romagna, from which came the See also:noble and See also:ancient See also:Italian See also:family of Da Polenta. The founder of the See also:house is said to have been Guido, surnamed 1'Antico or the See also:Elder, who wielded See also:great authority in See also:Ravenna in the 13th See also:century. His See also:grandson Guido See also:Novello upheld the See also:power of the house and was also capitano del popolo at See also:Bologna; he was overthrown in 1322 and died the following See also:year. His See also:chief claim to renown lies in the fact that in 1321 he gave hospitality to the poet See also:Dante, who immortalized the tragic See also:history of Guido's daughter Francesca, unhappily married to Malatesta, See also:lord of See also:Rimini, in an See also:episode of the Inferno. Guido's kinsman Ostasio I. was lord of Cervia and Ravenna from 1322 to 1329, and, after being recognized as a See also:vassal of the See also:Holy See, again became See also:independent and went over to the house of See also:Este, whom he served faithfully in their struggles with the See also:Church until his See also:death in 1346. His son Bernardino, who succeeded him as lord of Ravenna in 1346, was deposed in 1347 by his See also:brothers, Pandolfo and Lamberto II., but was reinstated a few months later and ruled until his death in 1359; he was famous for his profligacy and See also:cruelty. His son Guido III. ruled more mildly and died in 1390. Then followed Ostasio II. (d. 1396), Obizzo (d. 1431), Pietro (d. 1404), Aldobrandino (d.

1406), all sons of Guido III. Ostasio III. (or V.), son of Obizzo, was at first allied with the Venetians; later he went over to the Milanese, and, although he again joined the Venetians, the latter never forgave his intrigue with their enemies, and in 1441 they deprived him of his dominions. He died in a monastery in 1447- See also:

POLE-VAULTING, the See also:art of springing over an obstacle with the aid of a pole or See also:staff. It is probable that an exercise of the See also:kind was a feature of See also:Greek gymnastics, but with this exception there is no See also:record of its ancient practice as a See also:sport. As a See also:practical means of passing over such natural obstacles as canals and See also:brooks it has been made use of in many parts of the See also:world, for instance in the marshy provinces along the See also:North See also:Sea and the great level of the See also:fens of See also:Cambridgeshire, See also:Huntingdon-See also:shire, See also:Lincolnshire and See also:Norfolk. The artificial draining of these marshes brought into existence a network of open drains or canals intersecting each other at right angles. In See also:order to See also:cross these dryshod, and at the same See also:time avoid tedious See also:round-about journeys over the See also:bridges, a stack of See also:jumping poles was u`-- a The See also:Common See also:Polecat. kept at every house, which were commonly used for vaulting roads, footpads infested the streets, burglaries were of See also:constant over the canals. As a sport, pole-vaulting made its See also:appearance in See also:Germany in the first See also:part of the 19th century, when it was added to the gymnastic exercises of the See also:Turner by Johann C. F. Guts-Muths and Frederich L.

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Jahn. In Great See also:Britain it was first commonly practised at the Caledonian See also:games. It is now an event in the athletic championships of nearly all nations. Al-though strength and See also:good See also:physical See also:condition are essential to efficiency in pole-vaulting, skill is a much more important See also:element. Broad-jumping with the pole, though the See also:original See also:form of the sport, has never found its way into organized athletics, the high jump being the only form recognized. The See also:object is to clear a See also:bar or See also:lath supported upon two uprights without knocking it down. The pole, of See also:hickory or some other tough See also:wood, is from 13 to 15 ft. See also:long and 1 in. thick at the See also:middle, tapering to 11 in. at the ends, the See also:lower of which is truncated to prevent sinking into the See also:earth and shod with a single spike to avoid slipping. A hole in which to See also:place the end of the pole is often dug beneath the bar. In holding the pole the height of the cross-bar is first ascertained, and the right See also:hand placed, with an undergrip, about 6 in. above this point, the See also:left hand, with an over-grip, being from 14 to 30 in. below the right. The vaulter then runs towards the bar at full See also:speed, See also:plants the spiked end of the pole in the ground about 18 in. in front of the bar and springs into the See also:air, grasping the pole firmly as he rises. As he nears the bar he throws his legs forward, and, pushing with shoulders and arms, clears it, letting the pole fall backwards. In Great Britain the vaulter is allowed to climb the pole when it is `at the perpendicular.

Tom See also:

Ray, of See also:Ulverston in See also:Lancashire, who was See also:champion of the world in 1887, was able to gain several feet in this manner. In the See also:United States climbing is not allowed. Among the best See also:British vaulters, using the climbing See also:privilege, have been Tom Ray, E. L. Stones, R. See also:Watson and R. D. See also:Dickinson; Dickinson having cleared .11 ft. 9 in. at See also:Kidderminster in 1891. The record pole-vault is 12 ft. 62 in., made by W. Dray of Yale in 1907.

End of Article: POLENTA, DA

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