Schatzkammer

Schatzkammer, a German word which means treasury or treasure chamber, is a term used in English for the collection of treasures, especially objet d'art in precious metals and jewels, of a ruler or other collector, kept in a secure room, often in the basement of a palace or castle. It also often included the wider types of object typical of the Renaissance cabinet of curiosities. A very small but evocative Renaissance room in a tower at Lacock Abbey was designed for keeping and viewing the treasures of the newly rich owner.

The term is normally used of the collections of European rulers or very wealthy families. Well-known examples are:

Chamber

Chamber, chambers or the chamber may refer to:

In government and organizations

In media and entertainment

In rooms or spaces

Chamber (firearms)

In firearms, the chamber is the portion of the barrel or firing cylinder in which the cartridge is inserted prior to being fired. Rifles and pistols generally have a single chamber in their barrels, while revolvers have multiple chambers in their cylinders and no chamber in their barrel. Thus rifles and pistols can usually be fired even with a detached magazine, while a revolver cannot be fired with its cylinder swung out.

The act of chambering a cartridge means the insertion of a round into the chamber, either manually or through the action of the weapon, e.g., pump-action, lever-action, bolt action, or automatic action generally in anticipation of firing the weapon, without need to 'load' the weapon upon decision to use it (reducing the number of actions needed to discharge).

In firearms design or modification, "chambering" is fitting a weapon for a particular caliber or round, so a Colt Model 1911 is chambered for .45 ACP or .38 Super, or re-chambered for .38/.45 Clerke.

Chamber (comics)

Jonothon "Jono" Evan Starsmore, better known as Chamber or Decibel, is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually associated with the X-Men and the New Warriors.

A British mutant, Jono possessed the ability to cast energy blasts from his chest. He had limited control of his power and destroyed much of his chest and lower face when his powers emerged. Recently, he lost his powers on 'M Day' and now uses technology to give himself sonic based abilities.

Jono was a member of the X-Men's junior team Generation X, although he was sullen and moody and had difficulty bonding with teammates. He has since been offered a permanent position in the X-Men's teaching staff.

Publication history

Created by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Chris Bachalo, he first appeared in Generation X #1 (September 1994).

Fictional character biography

Origin

Treasure

Treasure (from Greek θησαυρός - thēsauros, meaning "treasure store",romanized as thesaurus) is a concentration of riches, often those that originate from ancient history, considered lost and/or forgotten until being rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constitutes treasure, such as in the British Treasure Act 1996.

The phrase "blood and treasure" or "lives and treasure" has been used to refer to the human and monetary costs associated with massive endeavours such as war that expend both.

Treasure hunting

Searching for hidden treasure is a common theme in legend; treasure hunters do exist, and can seek lost wealth for a living.

Buried treasure

A buried treasure is an important part of the popular beliefs surrounding pirates. According to popular conception, pirates often buried their stolen fortunes in remote places, intending to return for them later (often with the use of treasure maps).

There are three well known stories that helped popularize the myth of buried pirate treasure: "The Gold-Bug" by Edgar Allan Poe, "Wolfert Webber" by Washington Irving and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. They differ widely in plot and literary treatment but all are derived from the William Kidd legend. Stevenson's Treasure Island was directly influenced by Irving's "Wolfert Webber", Stevenson saying in his preface "It is my debt to Washington Irving that exercises my conscience, and justly so, for I believe plagiarism was rarely carried farther.. the whole inner spirit and a good deal of the material detail of my first chapters.. were the property of Washington Irving."

Church treasure

A church treasure (German: Kirchenschatz) is the collection of historical art treasures belonging to a church, usually a monastery (monastery treasure), abbey, cathedral. Such "treasure" is usually held and displayed in the church's treasury or in a diocesan museum. Historically the highlight of church treasures was often a collection of reliquaries.

As a result of gifts and the desire to acquire sacred artifacts, many churches over the centuries gathered valuable and historic collections of altar plate, illuminated manuscripts of liturgical or religious books, as well as vestments, and other works of art or items of historical interest. Despite iconoclasm, secularism, looting, fire, the enforced sale of treasure in times of financial difficulty, theft and other losses, much of this treasure has survived or has even been repurchased. Many large churches have been displaying their riches to visitors in some form for centuries.

Examples and museums of important church and cathedral treasures

Treasure (Holly Cole album)

Treasure is a limited edition compilation album by Holly Cole Trio. It was released in Canada in 1998 on Alert Records. It is a collection of "Hits and Previously Unreleased Tracks" from 1989-1993.

Track listing

[*]Previously Unreleased [#]New Recording

References