This is of Norse origin, and was practised in England in Anglo-Saxon and early Norman times. The ordeal was of various kinds, one of the most severe consisting in the accused walking barefoot and blindfold over red-hot ploughshares. If within a given period the burns so caused were not healed he was adjudged guilty. The ordeal was forbidden by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215.
England’s reply to Napoleon’s Berlin Decree, establishing the Continental Blockade, was the issue of a series of Orders in Council. They forbade vessels to trade between any ports in France or the territories of the allies, granted the right of reprisals against Tuscany, Naples, Dalmatia and the Ionian Islands, declared a blockade against all ports from which the English flag was excluded, and finally declared the sale of ships by a belligerent to a neutral illegal. These orders had a very serious effect upon the American carrying trade, and the irritation caused thereby was one of the causes of the outbreak of war in 1812.
An Act providing for the Government of the North-West Territory, passed by the United States Congress in 1784.
An Act of Congress making further provision for the government of the North-West Territory, and decreeing freedom from slavery and religious toleration.
The articles of reform prepared by the Lords Ordainers in the reign of Edward II and agreed to by the King and Parliament in 1311. They provided that no war should be undertaken without the consent of Parliament, that all customs duties imposed since the death of Edward I should be removed; that the great officers of state should be nominated with the consent of Parliament; that Parliament should meet annually, and that the King’s undesirable companions should be removed and his household reformed. Piers Gaveston in particular being banished from the kingdom.
An edict issued in May, 1413, by Charles VI of France, reforming the finances and abolishing numerous sinecures about the Court.
The decrees issued by Charles X on July 24, 1830. The first suspended the liberty of the Press, the second dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, and the third ordained that the future Chamber should consist only of Deputies from the Departments. A revolutionary outbreak, fomented by the journalists, followed immediately on the promulgation of these ordinances, and Charles fled from Paris, and abdicated on August 3.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States, signed in 1846, defining the frontier between Oregon and British Columbia. It involved the settlement of the claim to Vancouver Island in favour of Great Britain.
A Russian ukase, issued in 1832, withdrawing constitutional government from Poland.
Lazare Nicolas Carnot, the revolutionary leader, was so called during the wars of the French Revolution.
The ancient standard of France: a crimson flag attached to a gilded lance.
The party among the French Royalists who supported the claims of the Orleans Branch of the French Royal Family to the throne of France. On the death of the last of the French Bourbons in 1883 the party was augmented by the adhesion of the majority of the Legitimists.
An edict issued in 1561 by the Chancellor, de l’Hôpital, proclaiming certain reforms in the Church and the Justiciary. In the former category were included the abolition of annates and of the sale of benefices, and in the latter the abolition of all extraordinary Courts of Justice. It further authorized the Government to take possession of the surplus income of all religious communities, and to apply the sum thus obtained to educational purposes.
The name given to the insurrectionary government established at Bordeaux in 1652. It is derived from the fact of the leaders of the movement holding their meetings under a large elm near the Fort du Ha.
Marie Thérèse, Duchess of Angouléme, the daughter of Louis XVI, was so called in allusion to her three years’ imprisonment in the Temple in Paris.
A conspiracy to murder Napoleon III by blowing up his carriage as he was on his way to the opera in 1858. The Emperor escaped unhurt, but ten persons were killed and 158 injured by the explosion of the bombs. Orsini, who was captured and executed, had been a refugee in London,where the plot was hatched, a fact which led to an intensely hostile feeling towards England on the part of the French.
The outcome of a conference at Ostend in 1854 between Messrs. Buchanan, Mason and Soulé, the representatives of the United States at the Courts of Great Britain, France and Spain respectively. They were asked to advise on the Cuban question, and advised their Government that the proper course was purchase, or if Spain refused to sell, that the United States were fully justified in using force if they felt themselves sufficiently powerful.
In old Japan a friendly association of the Chônin, or wardsmen of the large towns. They were very particular as to the character of their members, their aim being mutual assistance against oppression and wrong-doing of every kind, while among themselves they were a sort of benefit society, aiding those of their members who through misfortune were in need of assistance.
A conference of delegates from the British self-governing colonies, held at Ottawa in 1894. The conference agreed to resolutions asking for Imperial legislation enabling the Colonies to enter into treaties of reciprocity with each other, and the denunciation of existing foreign treaties which prevented this. The delegates further pronounced in favour of preferential customs arrangements between the Mother Country and the Colonies, of a line of fast steamers between Canada and Australia, and of an “All Red” cable to Australia.
A proclamation issued by Lord Canning after the fall of Lucknow in 1858, confiscating all proprietary rights to land in Oude, with the exception of the estates of seven unimportant proprietors. All others must throw themselves on the mercy of the British Government, and clemency would be extended to them, if they had not been concerned in the murder of Englishmen. This proclamation was considered by Lord Ellenborough unduly severe, and a controversy arose which nearly led to Lord Canning’s resignation.
A Spanish Order of Knighthood, instituted in 1218 by James I of Aragon. Its special mission was to work for the deliverance of captives in the hands of the Moors.
Among the Norsemen certain crimes, such as the violation of a temple, or secret or unprovoked murder, could not be atoned for by “weregild,” and were punished by confiscation of all property and loss of all rights, the criminal becoming an outlaw. A man was also outlawed if he or his family were unable to pay “weregild.”
An abortive conspiracy tooverthrow the Commonwealth and murder Cromwell, Lambert and other leading men, in 1655. It was headed by Major-General Overton, one of the most successful of the Parliamentary generals.
A movement, designed to bring the Church of England nearer to the Church of Rome, which took its rise at Oxford in 1841. Its leaders were Keble, Pusey and Newman, and their views were in the first instance published to the world in a series of papers called “Tracts for the Times,” whence it is also known as the Tractarian Movement. Its followers were generally called Puseyites by their opponents.
The attempted assassination of Queen Victoria by Edward Oxford in 1840 is so called. He fired twice at the Queen, but missed. At his trial he was found to be insane, and was incarcerated in Bethlem Hospital, and afterwards in Broadmoor.
A commission specially nominated to hear and determine specific cases, especially of high treason, in England. This legal form was extended to Scotland in 1709, after the abortive trial of the Stirlingshire Jacobites under the ordinary Scotch procedure in 1708.
The war between Chile on the one side and Peru and Bolivia on he other in 1879-83 is so called.
The agreement entered into between the nobles and candidates for the throne at the election of the Polish kings. The terms agreed upon at the election of Henry in 1573 included the following: Henry undertook not to influence the diet in the choice of his successor, not to declare war, to marry or to divorce without their consent, not to impose taxes nor to appoint ambassadors. These terms were known as the Articles of Henry, and similar disabilities were imposed upon subsequent kings of Poland.
SeeMalisset.
A conspiracy of Count Pahlen, Governor of St. Petersburg, in 1801, to dethrone Paul I. The Czarewitch gave his countenance to the plot, with the stipulation that no bodily harm should befall his father. Paul was nevertheless murdered by Pahlen and his accomplices.
A treaty between Catherine de’ Medici and the Huguenots in 1576, whereby the Huguenots were allowed the exercise of their religion in certain towns which they held. Certain appanages were granted to their leaders, Condé, Henry of Navarre and others.
The Peace of Cambray, so called because it was negotiated by Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I, and Margaret, aunt of Charles V.
The name of the Patched-upPeace is given to the Peace between Jean Sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy, and the Duc d’Orléans, the leader of the Armagnacs in 1407. It was a device of Jean to get the Duc d’Orléans into his power and three days afterwards Orléans was murdered by the Duke of Burgundy’s agents.
The same title is sometimes given to the Peace of Longjumeau, between Charles IX and the Huguenots in 1586.
A select band of knights in the service of Charlemagne, the most famous of whom was Roland or Orlando. Most of them were killed at the Battle of Roncesvalles, where Charlemagne’s troops were defeated by the Moors in 778.
SeeHeidelberg Catechism.
In Poland the generals of the forces raised in the various palatinates, or provinces, were so called.
The portion of Ireland subdued and settled by Henry II in 1175, within which only the English law was in force.
SeePfahlbürger.
The cloak or robe of office sent by the Pope to metropolitans and other high dignitaries of the Church, without which they could not enter upon the exercise of their functions.
A name given to the State of South Carolina, in allusion to the number of palmettos growing within its borders. The palmetto is in the arms of the State.
The nickname of Lord Palmerston.
A congress of the various States of North, South and Central America, organized by James G. Blaine during the term of office of President Harrison, and held at Washington in 1890. Among the subjects discussed were reciprocity treaties, and a uniform standard of coinage, weights and measures for the American Continent. No practical results, however, accrued.
A movement in Germany and the German provinces of Austria, to unite the latter to the German Empire. The Austrian Pan-Germans make no secret of their desire to break up the Austrian Empire with this end in view.
A secret movement fomented by certain fanatical Mohammedans, for the freedom of all Moslems from Christian domination. It cannot be said to be in any way organized, but its emissaries are from time to time found at work in Mohammedan districts under Russian and British rule.
A Russian movement having for its ideal the confederation of all the Slavonic nations under the hegemony of Russia. The Pan-Slavists are naturally strong advocates of a forwardpolicy in the political relations of Russia and Turkey.
A treaty between the United States and Colombia, signed in January, 1903, providing for the acquisition by the former Power of the canal rights of the new Panama Company. The United States secured a strip of territory, six miles wide, along the route of the canal, against a payment to Colombia of £2,000,000 and an annual subsidy. This is granted on a lease for a hundred years, renewable at the option of the United States. An arrangement is made for joint police and judicial control, but the subjects of the United States can claim to be tried by their own courts. The port dues are ceded by Colombia to the United States.
During the investigation, in 1892, into the affairs of the Panama Canal Company, which had become bankrupt, it was discovered that large sums of money belonging to the shareholders were not properly accounted for. It appeared that in order to get the Panama Lottery Bill passed in 1888, the Baron de Reinach had distributed three millions of francs in bribes to deputies and senators, and that over one hundred had accepted bribes to vote for the bill. The directors of the company, including M. de Lesseps and his son, were tried and found guilty of malversation of the company’s funds, and several deputies and senators, including eight ex-ministers, were prosecuted for receiving bribes. The Parisians called this affair “La Lessive du Panama,” or the Panama dirty linen.
The bank scandal in Italy in 1893, in which several deputies were involved, was known as the Panamino, or Little Panama.
A corps of Hottentots and half-breeds, raised by the Dutch East India Company at the Cape in 1793.
A rising of the Mohammedans of Yunnan against China, which broke out in 1855, under the leadership of Dow-Win-Sheou. The rising was successful, and the Viceroy of Yunnan finally signed a treaty by which Dow-Win-Sheou was given practically uncontrolled sway over Western Yunnan. After his death the Peking Government at last determined to restore the Imperial rule and dispatched a force for that purpose in 1867 which, after a long conflict, defeated and almost exterminated the Mohammedans.
This was made a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church by a decree of the Vatican Council in 1870. It is decreed that in all matters of faith and morals the Pope is infallible when he speaksex cathedrâ, that is to say, officially as the vicegerent of God.
John Law of the Mississippi Scheme was so called from his issue of large amounts of papermoney without an adequate reserve in specie.
The harem of Louis XV of France in the Park of Versailles.
A fund raised by subscriptions from America for the support of the Irish Home Rule agitation and of the evicted tenants. It was deposited in Paris, and was under the control of Parnell. After his death in 1891, a serious quarrel followed between the Parnellites and the anti-Parnellites as to the disposal of the fund. Eventually, in 1894, it was handed over to Mr. Justin McCarthy.
The name given to the massacre of St. Bartholomew.
A treaty between England, France and Spain, at the close of the Seven Years War. England obtained the whole of the French possessions in America, except New Orleans and the territory west of the Mississippi, together with Florida, ceded by Spain in return for Havana, which was restored to her. The French fishing rights on the Newfoundland coast and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence were formally recognized. Guadeloupe and Martinique were restored to France, who also obtained St. Lucia. England recovered Minorca, in exchange for which France ceded to Spain Louisiana west of the Mississippi. In India, France retained her factories, but agreed to withdraw her troops.
A treaty between France and the Allied Powers, signed in 1814, after the entry of the Allies into Paris. By its provisions France was restricted to her frontier of 1790, with the exception of a slight increase of territory, including some strong places, towards the Rhine, and about half Savoy, towards the Alps. Mauritius was surrendered to England, who retained Malta and the Cape of Good Hope. The independence of the German and Swiss states, and of the Italian states outside the Austrian dominions was proclaimed. Holland, under the rule of the Prince of Orange, was to receive an accession of territory, which, by a secret article, was declared to be Belgium. Sardinia received Genoa, in compensation for the portion of Savoy ceded to France. These provisions formed the basis for discussion at the Congress which met immediately afterwards at Vienna to settle the affairs of Europe.
A treaty between France and the Allies, signed in 1815, after the Waterloo Campaign. France lost the advanced frontier accorded her by the treaty of 1814, and was restricted absolutely to her frontier of 1790. She was further mulcted in a sum of seven hundred million francs, to be paid within five years, and pending payment an army of occupation was to hold certain fortresses.
A treaty signed by England, France, Russia, Turkey, Prussiaand Sardinia, after the close of the Crimean War. It provided for the return of Kars to Turkey and of Sebastopol to Russia. The Powers agreed to respect the integrity of Turkey, while the Sultan undertook to issue a firman ameliorating the condition of his Christian subjects. The Black Sea was neutralized, and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles closed to ships of war in time of peace, while the navigation of the Danube was thrown open to all nations. The treaty also dealt with the laws of maritime war, and the following principles were accepted by the signatories: (1) Privateering to be henceforth unlawful; (2) The flag to cover the merchandise, except in the case of contraband of war; (3) Neutral goods under an enemy’s flag not to be liable to capture, unless contraband of war; (4) Blockades not to be binding unless effective. In 1870 Russia took advantage of the Franco-German War to repudiate the clause neutralizing the Black Sea.
A treaty between Great Britain and Persia, by which Persia renounced all her rights in Afghanistan, including Herat, and undertook to submit to the arbitration of Great Britain any questions that might arise between her and Afghanistan. By a clause in this treaty the slave trade in the Persian Gulf was made illegal.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament in 1537, providing that no person should be appointed to any benefice in Ireland who was not acquainted with the English language, and requiring every beneficed clergyman to establish and maintain English schools in his parish, and to teach his parishioners the prayers of the Church in the English tongue.
The judicial body which succeeded the Cours Plénières, or Baronial Courts of the early French kings. It was organized by Louis IX, and was at first without any fixed seat, though under Philip the Fair in 1302 it was established in Paris and became known as the Parlement de Paris. It was then composed of two prelates, two nobles, thirteen clerics and thirteen laymen. Its earliest records are dated 1254. Later, similar bodies, known also as Parlements, were established in the chief provincial centres.
To this Parliament of Henry III, in addition to the knights of the shires, who had been summoned intermittently since the reign of William the Conqueror, there were summoned, for the first time in English history, two burgesses from each of the principal cities. The first regular Parliament, however, in which all the estates of the realm were duly represented is generally held to have been that of Edward I, which met in 1294.
SeeAddled, Barebone’s, Bats, Cavalier, Club, Convention, Devil’s, Drunken, Dunces, Good, Grattan’s, Long, Mad, Merciless, Pensioned, Reformed,Rump, Short, Unlearned, Useless, White Bands, Wonderful.
Althing, Bundesrath, Chambre, Congress, Cortes, Delegations, Folkething, Junta, Landesgemeinde, Landstag, Long Diet, Odalsthing, Potchefstroom, Reichsrath, Reichstag, Rigsdag, Skuptschina, Sobranje, States General, Storthing, Thing, United Diet, Volksraad.
A commission appointed by Act of Parliament in 1888 to try the charges brought against Mr. Parnell by theTimesin their articles “Parnellism and Crime.” The gravamen of these charges was that Parnell and other Irish leaders were insincere in their condemnation of agrarian crime, and they were based on a series of letters sold to theTimesby a certain Pigott. In one of these letters Mr. Parnell wrote that Mr. Burke, who was murdered in Phœnix Park, had only got his deserts. Under cross-examination Pigott broke down, and confessed that the letters were forgeries. The Commission cleared Parnell and the other Irish members of the graver charges, but considered their complicity in much of the lawlessness of the Land League clearly proved.
The followers of Mr. Parnell in the House of Commons, especially the small section of the party which remained faithful to him after his deposition from the leadership in 1890, and which continued in opposition to the Anti-Parnellites after his death, under the leadership of Mr. Redmond.
Descendants of the ancient Zoroastrians of Persia, who, rather than forsake their religion, fled to India, on the conquest of Persia by the Caliph Omar in 651. They form a community of about 85,000, with their headquarters in Bombay.
SeePfaffen-Kaiser.
A short-lived republic, established in the kingdom of Naples in 1799, as the result of a popular rising.
A treaty between Great Britain, Holland and Spain, signed in 1698, with the object of dealing in anticipation with the claims of the rival pretenders to the Spanish succession. It was agreed that Spain, the Netherlands, and the Spanish Indies should pass to the Elector of Bavaria, the least powerful of the three claimants. France was to receive Guipuscoa and the two Sicilies, and Austria the Milanese. The terms of this treaty, though secret, leaked out, and Charles was persuaded to execute a will leaving the whole of his dominions to the Bavarian Prince.
The death of the Elector of Bavaria having rendered the First Partition Treaty of no effect, a second treaty was signed by the same three powers in 1700. By this instrument Spain, the Netherlands and the Indies were assigned to theAustrian Archduke, while France, in addition to the two Sicilies and Guipuscoa, was to receive the Milanese, to be exchanged eventually for Lorraine, which was a German fief encroaching on the natural dominions of France.
A series of satires on the authorities issued in Rome towards the end of the fifteenth century by a witty tailor named Pasquino. The word is now applied generally to political lampoons.
A treaty between Venice and Turkey, signed in 1718, by which the Morea, which had been secured to Venice by the treaty of Carlowitz in 1699, was restored to Turkey.
A treaty between the Emperor Charles V and the Protestant Princes of Germany, signed in 1552, after the surprise of Charles at Innspruck by Maurice of Saxony. The Protestants of Germany secured thereby the free exercise of their religion and freedom from Imperial interference.
SeeNon-Resistance.
A band of shepherds and peasants, led by a Hungarian, who styled himself the Master of Hungary, who rose in revolt in France in 1251. Their avowed objects were the reform of the abuses of the Church and the release of the Holy Land from Moslem rule. The outbreak, directed in the first instance against priests and scholars, was accompanied by wild excesses, but was soon suppressed, the Master being killed in an attack on Bourges.
The city of Rome and the surrounding district, handed over to Alexander III by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1177 as St. Peter’s Inheritance.
A section of Whig malcontents who, in 1733, under the leadership of Pulteney strongly opposed Walpole’s Excise Bill. They were supported by the “Boys,” the Young Whig party under William Pitt, and by the small remnant of the Tories under Bolingbroke. Walpole, however, was too strong for them, and, as a protest, the Patriots retired from Parliament in a body.
A secret society formed for the promotion of agricultural interests in the United States in 1870. Between that date and 1876, when the society reached its zenith, the number of their lodges or “granges” increased in number from 90 to 19,000. The discussion of political questions was strictly forbidden at their meetings. The members of the society are known as Grangers.
An edict issued by the Emperor Conrad II in 1037, by which all lesser fiefs throughout the Empire were made hereditary, while the feudal dues payable to the greater Lords were reduced. This edict became the law of German feudalism.
A conspiracy against the Medici in Florence in 1478, headed by the Pazzi family, and supported by Pope Sixtus IV. The plan was to assassinate the two brothers, Lorenzo and Giuliano, in the cathedral, but the assassins failed to kill Lorenzo, whose prompt measures quickly put down the rising.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States which closed the American War of Independence. By its provisions Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States, and their right to the whole of the Northern Continent of America except Canada and Newfoundland. This treaty was confirmed by the Treaty of Versailles of 1783, to which Spain and France were also parties.
An Act passed in the Queensland Parliament in 1894, to deal with the terrorism rife in the pastoral districts owing to the action of the Shearers’ Union.
A society founded in London in 1816 to advocate the principle that war is inconsistent with Christianity and humanity. It is entirely unsectarian, though most of its earlier members were Quakers.
A rising of the peasants of Suabia, Franconia, Alsace and Lorraine, in 1525, under the leadership of Görtz von Berlichingen. They issued a manifesto demanding, among other concessions, the right to choose their own pastors, the payment of tithes in kind only, the proceeds thereof to be devoted to ecclesiastical purposes, the abolition of serfdom, and free hunting and fishing. In the later stages of the war they were led by the fanatic Münzer, who proclaimed community of goods. After much bloodshed the rising was suppressed in the course of the year, Münzer being killed in battle.
A treaty between Edward IV and Louis XI, by which the English King agreed to withdraw his troops from France, on the payment by Louis of the expenses of the war, a yearly pension, and 50,000 crowns as ransom for Margaret of Anjou. This treaty, signed in 1475, was secured by Louis mainly by large bribes administered to Edward’s advisers.
The name given by the Magyars, after the war of 1848, to those Hungarians who were suspected of Austrian sympathies.
The followers of Sir Robert Peel in his departure from extreme Toryism, on the lines of the Tamworth Manifesto of 1835.
Bands of Protestant peasantry, formed in Ulster in 1782, who made it their business to eject Catholic tenants from their farms.
The establishment of theright of a peer to be tried by his peers in Parliament dates from the reign of Edward III, when Stratford, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to answer the charges brought against him before any other tribunal. He was supported by the Lords, and the King was at last compelled to yield. The privilege thus secured was embodied in a statute.
The capture of seals in the open sea, and not on their breeding grounds.SeeBehring Sea.
A name given to the State of Louisiana, from the pelican in its coat of arms.
The reactionary party in Chile in 1828 were known as the Pelucones or Wigs.
A treaty signed in 1860 by China, Great Britain and France, ratifying the provisions of the Treaty of Tientsin. China also made certain additional concessions, and paid an increased indemnity as compensation for the treatment accorded to the plenipotentiaries on their way to Peking to ratify the previous treaty.
A settlement of Flemings at Haverfordwest and Tenby, under the Earl of Clare, in 1107.
A series of Acts passed at various times from the reign of William III to that of George II, and notably in the time of Queen Anne, imposing various most harassing disabilities on the Irish Catholics. The first relaxation of these Acts took place in 1778.
A bill to promote Civil Service reform, which was passed by the United States Senate in 1882. Its principal provision was the throwing open of appointments in the Civil Service to competitive examination.
A name sometimes given to the State of Florida, U.S.A.
This great reform was introduced in the Budget of 1839, and became operative on January 10, 1840. Its introduction is due to the perseverance of Sir Rowland Hill, who after many years of argument, at last succeeded in convincing the Postal authorities that the increase of correspondence would more than compensate for the loss occasioned by the lowering of the rates.
The Parliament of 1661-79 was so called from the large number of its members who were Cavaliers in receipt of Royal pensions. It was also called the Cavalier Parliament.
This sobriquet was bestowed upon Cardinal Mezzofanti, who was said to speak fifty-eight languages.
SeeChartism.
SeePopulists.
The name by which Mrs. Mary Robinson, the favourite of George IV, was generally known.
Francis I of France was called the Father of Letters.
The arrangement by which Lord Cornwallis finally adopted the Zemindari System of land tenure in Bengal in 1793. (SeeZemindar).
A treaty between Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold of Burgundy, in 1468, by which Louis, who had been treacherously imprisoned by Charles, obtained his release in return for certain important concessions.
A document issued at Brussels by Philip II in 1577, confirming the Pacification of Ghent. Philip agreed to the withdrawal of the Spanish Army, exchange of all prisoners, confirmation of the Charters and Constitutions of the Netherlands, and the maintenance of the two religions.
A league entered into in 1291 by the three Forest Cantons of Switzerland, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, for mutual assistance against aggression. This league, which is also known as the League of Brunnen, is the germ of the Swiss Confederation. A second Perpetual League was formed in 1332, when Lucerne was admitted into the Federation.
A treaty of peace entered into between Austria and the Federated Swiss Cantons in 1474, by which Austria renounced her claim to all the territory won back from her by the Swiss, in return for which they promised their aid in the war with Burgundy.
A treaty between England and Scotland in 1502, whereby Margaret, daughter of Henry VII, was betrothed to James IV.
An assembly summoned by Edward I in 1305, after the annexation of Scotland, to elect members to represent Scotland in the English Parliament of that year.
The minister of the Mahratta princes of India. The Peshwas, who were seven in succession, may be said to have formed a Mahratta dynasty, as, though nominally ministers, they were actually rulers of the Mahratta States. Their power came to an end with the treaty of Bassein in 1802.
SeeManchester Massacre.
A tribute to the Pope which seems to have originated in an undertaking by Æthelwulf (836-857) to find funds for the support of a Saxon College at Rome. This tribute was later exacted by the Popes as a right, and was so paid by William the Conqueror and later kings.
Napoleon’s nickname among his soldiers, given to him after the battle of Lodi.
An enactment passed by Parliament in 1657, and accepted by Cromwell, amending the Constitution. Among other provisions it restored the second chamber, which had been abolished by the Long Parliament, and placed the army under Parliament and the head of the executive jointly. It also provided that Cromwell should take the title of King, a provision which he refused to accept.
A petition presented by Parliament to James I in 1610, complaining of the Impositions, of the Courts of High Commission and of Wales, and of the free use of Royal Proclamations having the force of Statutes.
A petition presented to Charles I by his third Parliament in 1628. It comprised four demands: (1) That no taxes should be levied without the consent of Parliament. (2) That no subject of the realm should be imprisoned unless due cause were shown. (3) That the forces of the Crown should not be billeted on the people. (4) That no commission should issue in time of peace to try a subject by martial law. The King gave a qualified acceptance to the petition, but never adhered to its conditions.
The signatories to petitions to Charles II in 1679, urging him to call Parliament together, he having prorogued the new Parliament for a year before it had commenced to discuss business. The loyalist party, who forwarded an address to the King expressing their abhorrence of the petitions, were called Abhorrers.
A band of women who, in the last hours of the Paris Commune, spread over Paris with petroleum, setting fire to public buildings. When caught by the Government troops, they were promptly shot.
The Priests’ Charter, an ordinance issued in 1370 by the Federal States of Switzerland, declaring ecclesiastics to be subject to the authority of the State, and to have no special privileges.
Charles IV, the Emperor set up by the Guelf Party in 1346 in opposition to Lewis IV, was called the Parsons’ Emperor.
Burgesses of the Palisades, refugees from the tyranny of the feudal barons, who established themselves outside the walls but within the liberties of the free cities. These liberties were usually defined by a line of palisades, from which the name is derived.
A Greek secret society established in 1814 for the purpose of fomenting a rising against Turkish rule.
The murder in the PhœnixPark, Dublin, on May 6, 1882, by the Invincibles, an Irish secret society, of Lord Frederick Cavendish, the Chief Secretary, and Mr. Burke, the Under Secretary. The assassins escaped, but were afterwards brought to justice through the disclosures of an informer named Carey.
The Weepers, the followers of Savonarola, who was the guiding spirit of the Florentine Republic established during the temporary eclipse of the power of the Medici in 1493.
A conspiracy to overthrow the Consulate and bring back the Bourbons, planned by Georges Cadoudal, the Breton leader, and General Pichegru in 1804. The Comte d’Artois was privy to it, and the English Ministers at the Courts of Bavaria and Würtemberg were also supposed to have had knowledge of it. Certain information reaching the police, the conspirators and many who were entirely innocent were arrested. Among other innocent victims was the young Duc d’Enghien, son of the Prince de Condé, who was shot by order of Napoleon. It is of this action that Fouché said, “It is worse than a crime, it is a blunder.”
A special court established during the great fairs in Scotland and England to try trivial offences, such as disturbances of the peace, committed within the fair limits. It derives its name from the “dusty feet” of the pedlars, who were the principal vendors at these gatherings. In England it was called the Court of Pie Powder.
The Puritan emigrants who left England in theMayflower, and were the first colonists of New England in 1620.
The Catholic rising in the North of England in the reign of Henry VIII (1537).
A treaty signed in August, 1791, by the King of Prussia and the Emperor, by which the former agreed to support the allies in their efforts to suppress the French Revolution. The two monarchs subsequently issued a manifesto, known as the Declaration of Pilnitz, declaring that the position of the King of France was a matter of interest to all sovereigns, and that if the European rulers united to aid Louis, they would combine with them for the purpose. The price of Prussia’s co-operation in this movement was a secret undertaking on the part of Austria not to interfere with her proceedings in Poland.
A confederation of Hussites in 1422, sworn to resist Sigismund, and to oppose any sovereign who would not permit communion in both kinds.
A body of freebooters, or soldiers of fortune, in India, originally formed as a body of irregular horse, with licence to plunder, by the last Mohammedan dynasty of the Deccan. At the beginning of the nineteenth century they were in the service of the Mahratta Confederacy, and after the breaking up of this they continued to give great trouble to the British by their predatory raids. They were finally dispersed, and ceased to exist as an organized force in 1818.
The state of Maine is so called, from the wide extent of its pine forests.
A Council, summoned during the schism in 1409, which deposed Gregory XII and Benedict XIII, and elected Alexander V as Pope. The two first named declined to recognize the authority of the Council, with the result that there were now three Popes.
A peasant rising in Saintonge and Poitou in 1548, to obtain redress of grievances in connection with the Gabelle, or salt-tax. The insurgents held Bordeaux for some time, but were eventually overpowered, and their leaders executed. The rising, however, led to a reduction in the Gabelle.
SeeEast India Company.
A Bill which, after several failures, became law in 1743, in spite of the strong opposition of the King, rendering pensioners of the Crown and holders of offices about the Court ineligible for seats in the House of Commons.
The pestilence which broke out in London in 1665, and was not completely stamped out until the Great Fire of the following year. It carried off nearly 100,000 persons out of a total population of half a million.
The name given to the Girondins in the French Convention, because they occupied the lower tiers of seats in the Assembly. The Jacobins, who sat on the upper benches, were known as the Mountain.
A combination of tenants to refuse their rents on those Irish estates where the reductions demanded were not conceded. The tenants bound themselves to act together, and to make no separate arrangements with the landlord. If the reduction was refused, they then paid their rent into a common fund, to be used for the support of those who were evicted. The Plan was put into operation on forty estates. In April, 1888, it was pronounced unlawful by the Vatican.
The name given to the South American Republics bordering on the River Plate, namely, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
The submission of a question to the direct national vote, instead of to a vote of the elected representatives. It was adopted by Napoleon III after the Coup d’Etat of 1851, when he referred to the people the question of his assumption of the Imperial dignity.
The Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, passed owing to the efforts of Mr. Plimsoll on behalf of merchant seamen. It contains provisions preventing unseaworthy ships from leaving English ports, and regulates the load line and deck cargoes. The mark indicating the waterline of a fully loaded ship is known as the Plimsoll Mark.
The nickname of Prince Napoleon, son of Jerome Bonaparte. It was given him during the Crimean war, and is a euphemism for Craint-Plomb (Fear Bullet).
The Penniless, a nickname given by the Italians to the Emperor Maximilian I (1493-1519).
The chief magistrate in the Italian cities during the thirteenth century. He was elected annually by the citizens. In some cases his functions were purely judicial; in other cities he also exercised certain executive functions, including the control of the military forces.
The nickname of Louis Philippe of France, whose face was usually portrayed by the caricaturists of the day in the shape of a pear.
An arrangement arrived at in 1772 by Frederick of Prussia, Catherine of Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria, by which Prussia obtained the whole of Polish Prussia, except Dantzig and Thorn; Austria annexed Galicia and Lodomiria; and Russia acquired all the territory between the Dwina, the Dnieper and the Drutsch.
At the close of the Polish Civil War in 1793, Prussia and Russia invaded Poland, and as a consequence added to their dominions—Russia 85,000 square miles of territory, and Prussia 21,000, together with the towns of Dantzig and Thorn.
The small remnant of the Kingdom of Poland was divided between Prussia, Austria and Russia after Kosciusko’s abortive rising in 1795.
The local Council established at Cape Town in 1652 to govern the Colony under the General Council of the Dutch East India Company. It consisted at first of four members, but was enlarged to eight in 1685.
A joint note presented to Russia by Great Britain, France and Austria in 1863, after the suppression of the Polish insurrection of that year. It contained suggestions for an amnesty, national self-government, liberty of conscience, and other liberal measures, but as there was obviously no intention of backing it by force, Russia treated it with complete indifference.
The war which broke out on the death of Augustus II in 1733. Stanislas Leszczynski was supported for the throneby France, Spain and Sardinia, Augustus III by Russia and Austria. The war was ended by the Treaty of Vienna in 1738, Augustus obtaining the crown.
An Act of the United States Congress, passed in 1876, which forbids the soliciting or receiving of assessments for political purposes from any person holding an official position under the Government.
A party which came into existence in France after the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 1572, under the leadership of the Montmorency family. It was composed of Catholics who had no sympathy with the Huguenot persecutions and desired to extend toleration to their heretic fellow-countrymen.
A tax, graduated from £1 to 1s.a head, on every man or woman in England, imposed in 1380. It caused great discontent, which culminated in the rising of Wat Tyler and Jack Cade in 1381.
A tax imposed on all freemen in feudal times, for the repair and maintenance of bridges.
A treaty between the British and the Peshwa signed in 1817, whereby the Peshwa recognized the dissolution of the Mahratta Confederacy, and renounced all his claims on Sindhia, Holkar, the Gaekwar and the Rajah of Berar. He undertook to hold no communication with foreign princes, and to provide for the maintenance of a force of 5,000 horse and 3,000 foot. He also relinquished all territorial rights north of the Nerbudda, and undertook not to interfere in Indian affairs.
The first Act dealing with this question was passed in the reign of Elizabeth in 1572, and was followed by other enactments which were consolidated in the Act of 1601. By this Act rogues and vagabonds were severely dealt with, but workhouses were provided for the relief of the deserving poor, and parish officers, known as Overseers, appointed to superintend the working of the Act. This Act of Elizabeth continued in force till the Poor Law Act of 1832. By that time numerous abuses had crept into the administration of the Poor Law, resulting in the complete pauperisation of many parishes, owing largely to the stringency of the regulations against vagabondage having been relaxed. By the new Act, the separation between the two classes was rendered definite, relief was only to be granted to the able-bodied in return for labour, and children were separated from adult paupers. The machinery was in the main left unchanged, but small parishes were formed into Unions, and a central Board of Control was established.
The present system of election to the Papal chair was established by Nicholas II at the Synod of Rome in 1059,and amended by Gregory X at the Council of Lyons in 1275.
A nickname of Calvin.
A pretended plot in the reign of Charles II, having for its object the assassination of the King and the forcible establishment of the Roman Catholic religion. The arch-informer, Titus Oates, was a renegade English clergyman, who had been admitted into the Jesuit order. It is possible that there may have been some such scheme on foot, but the so-called revelations of Oates and his fellow-informers were nothing but a tissue of absurdities. Unfortunately, the murder by some person unknown of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, before whom Oates made his first deposition, so inflamed the popular mind that no justice could be expected, and five Catholic peers denounced by Oates were sent to the Tower, while many innocent priests and others were condemned and executed.
The political doctrine in the United States that the question of negro slavery was one for each Territory or State to decide for itself. It was perhaps better known as Squatter Sovereignty.
A party formed at Cincinnati in 1891, under the style of the People’s Party of the United States. Their “platform,” drawn up by Ignatius Donnelly, consists of the following “planks” among others: Abolition of National Banks, Free Coinage of Silver, Laws against Alien Landowners, Graduated Income-tax, and National Control of Railways.
An attempt, under the leadership of Stefano Porcari in 1453, to restore republican institutions in Rome. It was the final struggle of the Romans against the temporal domination of the Popes.
An association of Pioneers under John Pascoe Fawkner and John Batman, who were the first colonists to settle on the shores of Port Phillip Bay, and therefore the founders of Melbourne, in 1835.
An outbreak in Edinburgh in 1736, when the mob broke into the Tolbooth and hanged an officer named Porteous, who had been sentenced to death for firing on the crowd at an execution where he was in command of the guard, and afterwards reprieved. After executing their vengeance, the mob dispersed, and none of the rioters were ever detected.
A religious and literary community established in Paris circ. 1594 by the Arnault family, the leaders of the Jansenists. Pascal was one of its most famous members.
In 1640 the weakness of Spain under Charles IV induced the Portuguese nobles, headed by the Archbishop of Lisbon, to throw off their allegiance tothe Spanish Crown, and proclaim their legitimate sovereign, the Duke of Braganza, King of Portugal by the title of John IV. The Spaniards accepted the situation, without any effort to maintain their authority.
Alfonso d’Albuquerque (1453-1515), the famous Indian Viceroy, was so called.
A convention of the principal States of Europe and America, held at Berne in 1874, at which a uniform rate of postage between the various States was agreed upon.
The name given to James I’s Scottish subjects who were born after his accession to the English throne. The question arose as to whether they were aliens in England, and a legal decision was given to the effect that they were not aliens.
The failure of the potato crop in Ireland in 1847 is so called. It caused terrible distress, notwithstanding all the efforts made to relieve the sufferers, and thousands in consequence emigrated to America. Its effects on population, land tenure and other Irish questions have been very far-reaching.
The first Volksraad north of the Vaal River, established in 1840.
An Act introduced by Sir Edward Poyning, and passed in 1495, which declared that no Irish Parliament should be convoked until its programme of legislation had been sanctioned by the English Privy Council, and attested by the Great Seal. It was afterwards a source of endless complications between the Irish and English Governments, as it limited the absolute power of the Lord Lieutenant, and rendered impossible any policy of the English colony in Ireland to which the Mother Country was opposed. This Act was temporarily repealed in 1689, re-enacted in 1691, and finally rescinded in 1782.
A statute passed in 1392, finally confirming the Statute of Provisors of the previous reign, and declaring the realm of England to be free of all earthly subjection. The procuring of any Bull or other Papal instrument was made punishable by outlawry and forfeiture.
A proclamation of Charles VII of France in 1438, declaring that the authority of a General Council was superior to that of the Pope. It further followed the terms of the Concordat of Aschaffenburg, proclaiming that annates were abolished, and that the election of the Bishops was to be free of Papal control.
The fundamental law issued in 1724, settling the succession to the Austrian throne on Maria Theresa and her descendants. This, the most famous of the various Pragmatic Sanctions, was the cause of the War of the Austrian Succession, and was not finally accepted by the European Powers till the Peace of Aix La Chapelle in 1748.
A manifesto issued in 1338 by the Electors of the German Empire, in reply to the anathemas of Boniface XII, maintaining the Emperor’s independence of Papal control.
A decree issued in 1269, against the privileges of the clergy and the Papal usurpations. It forbade the sale of benefices and the levy of any tax by the Pope.
The decree issued in 1439 by Albert II, the first Hapsburg Emperor, settling the throne of Germany upon the royal house of Austria.
The instrument by which Charles III of Spain settled the succession to the throne of Naples upon his third son and his descendants.
The decree issued by Ferdinand VII of Spain, abolishing the Salic Law, in order to secure the crown for his daughter Isabella. This document is chiefly responsible for the Carlist wars.
A Congress of Panslavists held at Prague in 1848. It was the occasion of an outbreak on the part of the Czechs, and led to the bombardment of the city by Windischgrätz.
A treaty signed in 1635, to which all the sovereign States of Germany were parties. Certain concessions were made to the Protestants, the hereditary right of Austria to Bohemia was recognized, Pomerania was given to the Elector of Brandenburg, and Lusatia to the Elector of Saxony. The latter, in return, agreed to aid Austria in expelling the Swedes from Germany, thus scandalously deserting his northern ally.
A treaty signed by Prussia, Austria and Italy, after the defeat of Austria at Sadowa in 1866. Prussia annexed Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse-Cassel and Nassau. Austria renounced all right of interference in the North German States, as President of the Diet, and further ceded the Venetian provinces to Italy.
A revolt of the Dukes of Bourbon and Alençon and other great nobles against Charles VII in 1439, owing to the imposition, by the Ordonnance of Orléans, of a tax on their lands for military purposes. They were joined by the Dauphin Louis, but were defeated by Charles in 1440, when the war came to an end. It broke out again, but was finally suppressed in 1441.
The State of Illinois, U.S.A., is so called from the vast expanse of level prairie it contains.
Grants of Church lands to laymen during the Middle Ages,often extorted by force. They were generally for the life of the grantee, but were sometimes renewed to his successor.