A treaty signed by Great Britain, France, Norway and Sweden, by which Sweden undertook not to cede or make any grants of pasturage, fishery or any other rights to Russia, Great Britain and France agreeing to guarantee Sweden from Russian aggression.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1617, after the successful campaign of Gustavus Adolphus. By this instrument Sweden retained possession of Ingermanland, Karelia and part of Livonia, restoring to Russia the rest of her conquests.
A nickname given to Thomas J. Jackson, the Confederate General, during the American Civil War.
The Norwegian Parliament. On first assembling, one-fourth of the members of the Storthing are chosen to form an Upper House, known as the Lagthing, the remaining three-fourths forming the Lower House, or Odalsthing. In the event of the Lagthing twice rejecting a Bill sent up by the Odalsthing, the two houses sit together.
A sect of ascetics in Russia, which sprang up in the reign of Catherine II. They believe the Czar to be Antichrist, and are opposed to military service, the payment of taxes, and any recognition of secular authority.
The oath of mutual fidelity taken by Louis and Charles, sons of Louis the Débonnaire, and their followers, at Strasburg, in 841.
A body of regular infantry established, to repel the Tartar incursions, by Ivan IV (The Terrible), circ. 1535. They were disbanded and many of them killed by Peter the Great after their rebellion in 1698.
A conspiracy of Sophia, half sister of Peter the Great, aided by the Strelitzi, to murder Peter, and rule the State in the name of her imbecile brother Ivan, in 1689. Peter was warned, seized Sophia, and shut her up in a convent.
A nickname of Richard de Clare, Count of Strigul, who became King of Leinster in 1170, in succession to Dermot, his father-in-law.
A Russian dissenting sect, who object to the ikon-worship of the Orthodox Church.
The end of the eighteenth century, when the French Revolution had rendered many thinking men discontented with existing institutions, was known inGermany as the period of Storm and Stress.
A league of the cities of Suabia formed in 1376, for mutual defence against the depredations of the Counts of Würtemberg.
The practice of making grants of land by the holders of hereditary fiefs to sub-vassals, to be held on terms similar to those on which the grantor held from his overlord. This is the real origin of the feudal system in its fullest development.
A Statute passed in 1534, embodying an agreement forced upon Convocation by Henry VIII in 1532. It enacted that no new canons should be issued without the royal sanction, and that the power of summoning Convocation should be vested in the King, who should also be entitled to appoint commissioners to revise the Canon Law.
A system introduced by Warren Hastings in his dealings with Oude, and extended by the Marquis of Wellesley. Under this system native states acknowledged the paramountcy of the British Government, which in return guaranteed their integrity and independence. They were bound not to make war without the consent of the Government, and undertook to maintain a force to be at the Government’s disposal when required.
A tax imposed by Parliament in the reign of Charles I to meet the King’s demands for money. It amounted to 4s. in the £ on real property, and 2s. 8d. in the £ on personalty, aliens and Popish recusants paying double.
An Act declaring Henry VIII’s marriage with Catherine of Aragon null and void, and setting the succession on the issue of his second marriage, with Anne Boleyn.
An Act restricting in certain directions the royal prerogative, and settling the succession upon the Electress Sophia of Hanover. One of its clauses forbade the sovereign to leave the kingdom, but it was repealed in 1716, at the instance of George I, to enable him to visit his kingdom of Hanover.
A name derisively applied to the State of Illinois, U.S.A., by the inhabitants of other Western States.
The fourth or servile caste of the Hindus.
A treaty between England and France, signed in 1887, guaranteeing the neutrality of the Suez Canal. The Canal is to be at all times free to the ships of all nations, but in war time no belligerent is to be permitted to land troops or munitions of war in the Canal or its ports of access. The Khedive is charged with the carrying out of these stipulations. Practically all the Powersconcerned have given their adhesion to this instrument.
One of the two great Mohammedan sects. They accept the Sunna, a collection of laws and precepts, as well as the Koran.
Those who signed the Supplication against the use of Archbishop Laud’s Service Book in 1637. In 1638, the Supplicants having signed the Covenant, became known as the Covenanters.
A letter addressed to Philip of Spain by William of Orange and the Estates of Holland and Zeeland in 1573, demanding the restoration of their privileges, and the recall of the Duke of Alva.
One of the Irish Penal Laws, passed in 1704. It provided that no Catholic could be a guardian or trustee, take land on a longer lease than thirty-one years, or inherit land if there were a Protestant heir living. It forbade Catholics settling in Galway or Limerick. The Act was in fact a deliberate attempt to bribe the younger generation of Catholics into apostasy.
An Act passed in 1534, conferring on Henry VIII the title of Supreme Head of the Church of England. It was made high treason to question the title. The provisions of this Act as to treason were repealed in the reign of Edward VI, and re-enacted under Elizabeth.
A treaty between the British and Raghoba, signed in 1775, by which it was agreed to support Raghoba for the office of Peshwa, in return for the cession of Salsette and Bassein.
A law passed by the French Convention in 1793, declaring suspect: (1) all persons who had shown themselves enemies of liberty; (2) all who could not show that they had regular means of livelihood; (3) those who refused to take out certificates of civism; (4) all suspended public functionaries; (5) ci-devant nobles and their families; and (6) emigrés. All such persons were to be arrested, and kept in confinement at their own expense.
The ancient Hindu custom of burning the widow on the pyre with her deceased husband’s body. It was put down during the Viceroyalty of Lord Dalhousie, circ. 1856.
In early Norman times the court of the forest freemen was so called. It was arranged on the lines of the Shiremote, or County Court.
A convention between Great Britain and the Transvaal, agreeing to preserve the independence of Swaziland, and to appoint a committee of three persons, one each to be named by the contracting parties and one by the Swazis, to rule thewhite residents. It was further stipulated that the Transvaal might acquire a railway belt through Swaziland, and thence through Amatongaland to the sea.
A convention between Great Britain and the Transvaal, by which it was agreed that, subject to the consent of the Queen Regent of the Swazis, Swaziland should be under the protection of the Transvaal. All British subjects in Swaziland were to be at once admitted to full burgher rights in the South African Republic. No railway was to be built beyond the eastern frontier, without the consent of Great Britain.
The Queen of Swaziland having refused her consent to the Convention of 1893, a further convention was made similar to that of 1893, but omitting the clause requiring the Queen’s consent.
SeeBarn-burners.
An address presented to Queen Anne, in 1713, by the Highland Chiefs who had been the recipients of her gift of money, which they seem to have looked upon as payment for services rendered to the Stuart cause. In the address they refer to the sacred house of Stuart, and express the hope that in the Queen’s successor they may find one who shall obtain “both the hereditary and the parliamentary sanction.”
The peace concluded in 1711, after Rákóczy’s Rebellion. Austria granted the Magyars a complete amnesty, restoration of all forfeited property, and the free exercise of the Protestant religion.
The peace which ended in 1444 the invasion of the Turkish dominions by Hunyadi Janos of Hungary, and George, Despot of Servia, who penetrated as far as the Balkans. The Sultan Amurath restored Servia to George, against payment of a tribute of half the revenue of the State, and placed Wallachia under the protection of Hungary.
SeeAusgleich.
The corrupt form of Dutch spoken in the Dutch portions of South Africa. Its corruption is due principally to the large proportion of foreigners among the early immigrants, and to their intercourse with the native races.
A board or committee established in Scotland in 1637, chosen by the Supplicants with the object of bringing about an agreement between Archbishop Laud and the Presbyterians. It consisted of four members of each of the four classes: nobles, lesser barons, burgesses and clergy.
The Hussites under John Zisca were so called, from thename he gave their stronghold—Tabor, a camp or tent.
A section of the extreme Tories in 1704, who were anxious to secure the passage of the Occasional Conformity Bill through the Lords by tacking it on to the Land Tax Bill, which the Lords could not reject without stopping supplies. They were unsuccessful, however, in carrying their point.
A rebellion under Hung Hsiu Chwan, which broke out in the province of Canton in 1851. The rebels marched northward, and after capturing Nanking, established their headquarters there in 1853. They then invaded Honan, Shansi and Chihli, but were driven back. They held out, however, against the Imperial troops until 1864, when Nanking was captured by General Gordon, and the rebellion was finally suppressed in the following year.
A treaty between the French and Abd-el-Kader, the Algerian chief, signed in 1847, and assuring the French domination in Algeria.
A serious difficulty which arose between Great Britain and France in 1844, owing to the action of the French in arresting Mr. Pritchard, a missionary, who was the British Consul in Tahiti, and was very obnoxious to the Roman Catholics. He was only released on his undertaking to leave the Pacific. Great indignation was felt in England at this outrage, but after lengthy negotiations the matter was smoothed over, and compensation given to Mr. Pritchard.
A tax levied in France on the produce of the soil, paid exclusively by the cultivator, the landowner being exempt. It was abolished in 1791.
A method of warfare introduced by the Archbishop of Bordeaux in 1228, in his attempt to bring to terms Count Raymond of Toulouse. It consisted in the systematic cutting down of vines and fruit trees, and the destruction of houses and enclosures.
That portion of the feudal dues levied by the Norman Kings which was paid by the towns. Its arbitrary exaction was held to be illegal in the reign of Edward I.
A Statute passed in 1297, declaring the exaction of tallages illegal.
An hereditary contractor for land revenue in Oude. The Talukdar collected rents over a certain district, and paid the taxes for the district to the Government. He often had no proprietary right whatever in the land. By the new land system introduced into Oude by Lord Dalhousie in 1856, under which the British Government entered into direct relations with the villages, most of the Talukdars were dispossessed,and much discontent was occasioned thereby.
The Democratic party in New York City, who have for years kept the absolute control of public affairs in the city. As a party organization it grew out of the Tammany Society, an organization founded in 1805, ostensibly as a charitable institution, and for the promotion of an extended franchise. In 1871 the connexion of its leaders with the notorious Erie Ring led to a crusade against the party, headed by theNew York Times, and an inquiry disclosed wholesale jobbery and corruption in the administration. As a consequence Tammany was totally defeated at the polls in 1872, but returned to office at the following election, and remained in power until 1902, when they were again driven from office.
A statement of policy issued by Sir Robert Peel in 1835, after the dismissal of the Melbourne Ministry. It promised considerable concessions to the Dissenters, and was in many respects a departure from the old Toryism, and a recognition of the necessity for reform along cautious lines. Those who followed Sir Robert Peel in his new departure were known as Peelites.
The ancient law of succession in Ireland, by which the chieftainship of a sept descended to the eldest and most worthy of the same blood.
A confederation of Polish nobles formed in 1792, under the auspices of Catherine of Russia, to oppose the new constitution established in 1791, and to promote a return to the old order of things. They compelled Stanislas Augustus to give way and abrogate the 1791 constitution.
The invasion of Russia by the Tartars under Genghis Khan in 1237. They overran Russia up to the Carpathians, burning the chief towns, and carrying off the inhabitants as slaves. After subjugating the country, the Tartars contented themselves with demanding an oath of allegiance and a tribute from the Russian Princes, allowing the free exercise of the Christian religion, and interfering in no way with the institutions and customs of the country.
A nickname of James G. Blaine, derived from a political caricature, in which he was represented as Phryne before her judges, tattooed with the names of the various scandals with which his name had been connected.
The holders of Russian official appointments. They are mainly drawn from the ranks of the nobles and the clergy, and in particular from certain noble families, who may be said to be the real rulers of Russia. There are fourteen classes of officials, which classes are called “Tchins.” Every official, whatever his birth, has to enter in the lowest Tchin, and promotion is nominally by merit only.
The Boston tea riots are so called.
A party of advanced Radicals who opposed Mr. Gladstone’s amendment to Lord Derby’s Reform Bill of 1867. This amendment would have restricted the borough franchise to those occupiers whose names were on the rate book, but would have drawn a line of value below which no house should be rated. This small party not only defeated Mr. Gladstone, but succeeded in forcing upon the Government household franchise pure and simple.
The name given to Father Mathew, the Irish Temperance advocate, circ. 1838.
An order of knighthood established in Palestine in 1118, and confirmed by Honorius II in 1128. Its functions were the protection of pilgrims to the Holy Sepulchre, and its headquarters were on the site of Solomon’s Temple. During the thirteenth century, the order, which had become very powerful, and spread widely over Europe, was accused of heresy and other crimes, and was proscribed by Clement V in 1312, and its property confiscated.
A profession of the Protestant Doctrine as then held in England drawn up by a Convocation held in 1536, and based upon the Confession of Augsburg.
The Supreme Council of Venice, established in 1310. It really consisted of seventeen members, as to the ten were added the Doge and his six councillors. It controlled the magistracy and the senate, and had charge of the foreign relations of the Republic. It is, however, best known as an arbitrary secret tribunal, trying and condemning for all classes of offences against the laws and the State, without appeal.
A league formed in the eastern part of Rhætia in 1436, in the territories of the Counts of Toggenburg. It afterwards amalgamated with the Graubund and the Gotteshausbund.
The Reform Bill of 1867, as first introduced, is so called. At a Cabinet Council held on the day that Mr. Disraeli was to introduce the Bill, it was found that Ministers were not in agreement, and there were only ten minutes left to decide what was to be done. It happened that a Bill had been prepared, proposing a milder measure of reform, and this it was decided to introduce. It met with little approval from any section, and was ultimately withdrawn in favour of the original Bill. The story was some time afterwards told by Sir John Pakington to his constituents, and the makeshift Bill was promptly christened the Ten Minutes Bill.
The name by which the system of Frankpledge was known in the northern parts of England.
The massacre of the Swiss Guards at the Tuileries, on August 10, 1792, is known by this name. It is estimated that 5,000 persons perished at the hands of the Paris mob.
An Act passed by the United States Congress in 1867, to prevent the removal from office by the President, without the consent of the Senate, of any person holding a Government position. It was enacted in consequence of the action of President Johnson in removing Mr. Stanton in what was held to be an unconstitutional manner.
A treaty of alliance between Russia, Austria and Prussia, signed in 1813, and directed against Napoleon.
The name of the White Terror was given to the excesses of the counter-revolutionists in the French provinces, especially in the South, in 1795, after the fall of Robespierre.
The culmination of the French Revolution, lasting from the fall of the Girondins, in October 1793 to that of Robespierre, in July 1794. During this period the only limit to the number of executions was the time at the disposal of Fouquier-Tinville and the Revolutionary Tribunal for the trial of prisoners.
The extreme revolutionary party in Paris in 1848. They demanded, not work, but the spoliation of the rich, and were prepared to adopt the methods of 1793 to secure their object. They attempted to coerce and dissolve the National Assembly, and set up a Revolutionary Government at the Hôtel de Ville, but were overpowered by the Garde Mobile.
An Irish rebel society which was guilty of numerous outrages in Clare during the years immediately following the Union.
A treaty signed at the conclusion of the Bavarian War of Succession in 1779, by which Austria withdrew her opposition to the reunion of Anspach and Bayreuth with Prussia. Certain territorial changes were made in Bavaria, and the Treaty of Westphalia was renewed.
The second spiritual ruler of Thibet, who exercises the functions of the Dalai Lama between the death of one occupant of that position and the enthronement of his successor.
An Act passed in 1673, ordaining that all holders of temporal offices under the Crown must receive the Sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England, and renounce the doctrine of Transubstantiation. James II endeavoured to bring about its repeal, but without success, and it remained on the Statute Book till 1828.
The profession of faith of the Reformed Non-Lutheran German Church, drawn up by Bucer, and issued in 1530.
An order of knighthood founded by Henry, King of Jerusalem, during the third Crusade, its original members being followers of Frederick Barbarossa. In 1230, under their Grand Master, Hermann von Salza, the Teutonic knights marched against the Pagans of the Baltic shore of what is now known as Prussia. This country, which was a fief of Poland, they held until 1526, when Albert of Brandenburg, then Grand Master, made a treaty with Sigismund of Poland, by which Prussia was erected into a Grand Duchy, with Albert as Grand Duke. The order was dissolved by Napoleon in 1809.
A treaty between the Orange Free State and Moshesh, signed in 1866, after the Basuto war of 1865-6. Moshesh surrendered the greater portion of his country to the Free State, and undertook to withdraw all his subjects from the ceded territory. He not only failed to carry out the terms, but in the following years sent large bodies of warriors into these districts, and prevented their settlement by Europeans.
A monastic order, founded by John Caraffa, Bishop of Theate (afterwards Paul IV), and authorised by Clement V in 1524. The Theatins were strong supporters of the movement for the reform of the Papacy which arose within the Church about the middle of the sixteenth century.
In Saxon times the thegns were originally the King’s servants. Later, enriched by grants of land, they superseded the old nobility, and became eventually the Barons.
An Act passed in 1800, by which it was made illegal to devise property to accumulate for a longer period than twenty-one years. It arose from the will of Peter Thelusson, a wealthy merchant, who left £800,000 to accumulate until his grandson’s grandson reached the age of twenty-one. The will led to protracted litigation, and the resulting accumulation was consequently much less than had been anticipated.
An assembly of Catholic and Protestant divines, held at Westminster in 1559, to discuss certain points of dogma and ritual. The questions set for discussion were: the use of prayer in a tongue not understood by the people, the right of individual congregations to alter their ritual to suit their needs, and the propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and the dead in the celebration of the Mass. No decision was arrived at on any point.
In Saxon times the slaves of the feudal lords, reduced to the servile condition either as prisoners of war, or through debt.
The party who voted the decree of accusation against Robespierre and his followers in July (Thermidor) 1794. During the Directoire they still showed themselves advanced Republicans, being in favour of maintaining the decrees against the clergy, the noblesse and the emigrés.
Amongst the Norsemen, the assembly of freemen. The Things were of varying importance, and bore different names, according to the purpose for which they were convoked. Thus, the Althing was the general assembly of the nation, held annually; the Konungs-thing, a meeting specially summoned by the King; and so on down to the Husthing, a meeting of his own men summoned by any petty chief.
Another name for the Housekarls of King Knut.
A section of the Russian secret police, specially established to watch all political movements. It was formed by Nicholas I in 1865.
The Confederation formed by the admission, between 1481 and 1513, of the Cantons of Fribourg, Soleure, Basle, Schaffhausen and Appenzell, into the Perpetual League.
The thirteen American colonies forming the original thirteen States of the Union were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts. New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Virginia.
A combat between the followers of Simon de Montfort and those of Charles of Blois, fought at Ploermel in Brittany in 1350. The combatants were limited to thirty on each side, and the English were defeated.
A war between Ferdinand II and the Protestant Princes of Germany, which broke out on the accession of Ferdinand to the Austrian throne in 1619. The Protestant Princes had elected to the Imperial Throne Frederic V, the Elector Palatine, and took up arms in his support. Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus, and later France, were drawn into the conflict, and the war did not terminate till 1648, when Ferdinand III signed the Treaty of Westphalia.
The articles of faith of the Church of England, consisting of thirty-nine of the original forty-two articles issued in 1552. By an Act of Elizabeth passed in 1571, the acceptance of these was made incumbent on all the clergy of the Established Church.
A council appointed in 1357 to carry on the Government of France during the captivity of John. They had power to levy taxes, to appoint the chiefofficers of State, and generally to exercise all executive functions.
A code of laws drawn up by the Volksraad of Potchefstroom in 1844, and adopted in 1849 by all the communities established to the north of the Vaal river.
An order of knighthood instituted, according to tradition, by Archaicus, King of the Scots in 809. Though thus older than the Garter in its origin, it has been several times in abeyance, having been revived by James V of Scotland, by James II of England, and finally by Queen Anne, who placed it on its present footing.
A conference summoned by Ladislaus IV of Poland in 1645, in an endeavour to unite the Protestants to the Catholic Church. It lasted about four months, and was entirely without result.
The Policy of Thorough is the phrase used by Strafford and Laud to express their determination to carry through their schemes for the public advantage, regardless of the obstacles thrown in their way by interested parties.
Among the Norse nations slaves were so called. They were generally captives taken in war.
A phrase used by Mr. Jesse Collings, in the election campaign of 1885, expressive of the plank in his programme of free allotments of land for all agricultural labourers.
The battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805, is so called, because Napoleon and the Emperors of Austria and Russia were all present.
The ostensible programme of the Irish Land League in 1880: Fixity of Tenure, Fair Rent, Free Sale.
An alliance formed in 1849 between the Kings of Prussia, Hanover, and Saxony, to take joint measures for the suppression of the disorders rife in their States at that time.
The pseudonym of the leader of a band of lawless Irishmen, who in 1806 attacked the collectors of tithes.
A conspiracy of certain Jesuits and English Catholics in 1583, to rise against Queen Elizabeth, in conjunction with an invasion of French and Spanish troops. Suspicion was aroused by Throgmorton’s constant visits to the Spanish Ambassador. He was arrested, and under torture revealed the details of the plot, and the names of the principal conspirators.
A quasi-religious sect of robbers and murderers in India, who despatched their victims by strangling. They were put down by Lord Dalhousie about 1856.
The sobriquet of Gaston de Foix, Duc de Nemours (1489-1512), given him on account of his brilliant campaign in Italy.
A princely house of Germany, with large estates in Austria, Bavaria, Würtemberg, and elsewhere, who established the earliest postal system in Germany in 1460. In 1595 a member of the house was appointed hereditary grand master of the posts of the Empire, and though the privileges of the office were gradually infringed by the larger German States, the monopoly was not finally abolished till 1867.
A republic with Rome as its capital, established by Napoleon in Central Italy in 1797.
SeeClaimant.
A treaty between Great Britain, France and China, at the close of the war of 1857, providing for the establishment of Chinese Legations in London and Paris, and French and English Legations in Pekin, the toleration of Christianity in China, and access to the interior of China and to the navigable rivers for British and French subjects. In 1860 the envoys proceeding to Pekin to exchange ratifications were not permitted to proceed. Further hostilities ensued, and certain European prisoners were barbarously tortured by the Chinese, in revenge for which the Allies destroyed the Summer Palace of Pekin.
A treaty between France and China, by which China withdrew her claim to exercise a protectorate over Annam.
A conspiracy of Venetian nobles, headed by Tiepoli and the family of the Querini, against Gradenigo, the Doge of Venice, in 1310. The conspirators enlisted the aid of the Paduans, and formed a plan to seize the Doge in the Ducal Palace by means of their own armed retainers, holding the Square of St. Mark till the arrival of the Paduans. The plan miscarried, owing to the vigilance of the Doge, who was prepared for the attack, and the conspiracy failed. Many of the leaders were killed in the fighting, and others were executed, but Tiepoli escaped.
The third estate of the Realm, or Commoners, in France. It is held that they were first consulted by Louis IX, who summoned twelve citizens from the principal towns of France, to advise him on the national coinage.
A moderate party formed in the French Assembly in 1832, in the reign of Louis Philippe. In 1834 they formed a ministry under the Duc de Bassano, but the Chamber refused to support it, and it resigned in three days. In 1836, however, it formed a more durable administration under Thiers.
A treaty signed in 1807 between France, Prussia andFrance all her provinces on the left bank of the Elbe, to form the kingdom of Westphalia for the benefit of Jerome Buonaparte. In addition, recognition was accorded to Louis Buonaparte as King of Holland, to Joseph as King of Spain, and to the Confederation of the Rhine. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw was created out of the Duchies of Warsaw and Posen, and given to the King of Saxony. There were certain secret clauses in the treaty between France and Russia, by which Russia agreed to aid France against England and to coerce Portugal, Sweden and Denmark to take the same course, while France undertook to aid Russia against the Turks if the Porte declined to accept his mediation.
The nickname of Bolivar, the Liberator of South America, from his habit of beginning an argument with the words “Por supuesto,” “Let us suppose.”
An Act passed in 1836, commuting the tithe into a permanent rent charge upon the land, annually adjusted upon the price of corn, and redeemable at twenty-five years’ purchase of the average amount.
An Act passed in 1838, commuting the tithe into an annual rent charge, with a reduction of 25 per cent. At the same time the loan of one million sterling made in 1833 in aid of the destitute Irish Clergy, was converted into a gift.
A series of disturbances in Montgomeryshire and elsewhere in North Wales in protest against the payment of tithes in 1887. Riots were caused by sales under distraint in various parts of Wales, and for some time such sales could only be carried out under military protection.
The Society of Oriental Learning, a party in Korea violently opposed to Western ideas, and anxious to exclude all foreigners. In 1893 some 200,000 members gathered in Seoul, with the object of coercing the King, who had refused their preposterous demands.
An order issued by Emery, finance minister of Louis XIV, in 1644, to the effect that houses built in the Paris suburbs in contravention of an edict issued a hundred years before, but never enforced, should be redeemed by payment of a heavy fine. This order caused great discontent, and was eventually withdrawn.
A rising of the Magyars against Austrian domination in 1678, headed by Tököli, who, aided by the Turks, succeeded in driving the Austrian troops out of Hungary. He maintained his position until 1683, when he was defeated, and the Turks being at the same time repulsed from Vienna, the rising came to an end, and Tököli was forced to flee the country.
A treaty signed in 1538 after Russia. Prussia abandoned toFrancis’ invasion of Piedmont, by Charles V and Francis I, by which Francis obtained possession of Bresse, Savoy, and half of Piedmont, Charles taking the remainder of Piedmont and the Milanese. The Pays de Vaud was left to Berne, and the independence of Geneva guaranteed.
A treaty between France and the Papal See, signed in 1797. By this treaty the Pope surrendered the Legations and Ancona, and agreed to the final inclusion of Avignon in France. He also consented to pay a heavy sum in coin and jewels and to permit the removal to France of certain specified works of art. In return France recognized the Pope’s power to control the religious communities in Rome.
An Act passed on the accession of William and Mary in 1689, giving Protestant Dissenters the right to hold services in their own chapels, provided such chapels were registered. A further Act applying to Scotland was passed in 1712 for the toleration of all episcopal clergymen who were willing to take the Oath of Abjuration established by the Act of 1702.
A nickname of Jules Ferry, referring to his responsibility for the unpopular Tongking expedition of 1883.
A tax levied on all merchandise other than the staple commodities, whether exported or imported. It varied from 1s. 6d. to 3s. on every tun of wine or beer, and from 6d. to 1s. on every pound of merchandise. It was first levied in the reign of Edward III.
Empty Jacket, the nickname of John Baliol, King of Scotland (1292-1314), because he had the semblance but not the reality of royal power.
A treaty between Spain and Portugal, signed in 1494. Portugal being dissatisfied with the terms of the Papal Bull of Demarcation, Spain agreed to the dividing line between the two spheres of colonisation being drawn 370 leagues west of Cape Verde. Under the terms of this treaty Portugal subsequently claimed Brazil.
A league formed at Torgau in 1526 by the Protestant Princes of Germany, headed by the Landgrave of Hesse and the Elector of Saxony, as a counter move to the reported combination of Duke George of Saxony, the Elector of Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Mentz and other Catholic Princes to oppose the Reformation.
The strongly intrenched position in front of Lisbon, occupied by Wellington during the winter of 1810-11, after the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo.
The name given to the Loyalist Party in the reign of Charles II. It is taken from the name applied to the Irishoutlaws. The word now implies extreme Conservatism.
The political creed of Lord Randolph Churchill and his followers. He maintained that Toryism was not necessarily the creed of an exclusive class, but was as democratic in its aims as Radicalism.
In the earliest days of Scottish history, an inferior grade of chieftain in the Highlands.
A treaty between Russia and Persia, signed in 1828, by which Persia ceded Erivan and Nakitchevan, and accorded exceptional commercial facilities to Russian subjects.
An edict issued by Henri IV in 1591, repealing the edicts of his predecessor with respect to the Huguenots, and re-establishing the Concordat between the two religions contained in the Edict of January.
SeeOxford Movement.
Combinations of workmen in a particular trade, formed for mutual protection against rapacious employers, and also as benefit societies. They are mostly the growth of the nineteenth century, but have their origin in the trade guilds of the earlier times.
A series of disturbances in London in 1887. Meetings, nominally of unemployed, were held in Trafalgar Square, and addressed by well-known Socialist leaders, among others John Burns and Cunningham-Grahame. As these meetings led to disorder and obstruction of the traffic, they were prohibited by Sir Charles Warren, the Chief Commissioner of Police. The Socialists insisted on their right to hold the meetings, and the disturbances culminated on Sunday, November 13th, when a number of processions on their way to the Square were broken up by the police, and their leaders arrested, severe fighting taking place at several points. This, however, ended the rioting, as no further attempts were made to hold the prohibited meetings.
Outlaws who in 1305 infested the country districts of England, hiring themselves out for the execution of private vengeance. Stringent measures were taken against them under the Statute of Winchester.
Properly the Trained Bands, a force in the nature of a militia, established by James I in 1604, to replace the Fyrd. They numbered 160,000.
By an Act of Parliament passed in 1653, the whole of Ireland, excepting Connaught and the county of Clare, was opened for settlement by adventurers and the soldiers of the Commonwealth. The whole of the Irish population was transplanted to the province and county named above.
An association of the Uitlanders in the South African Republic, formed in Johannesburg in 1892, with the object of securing the franchise and reforms in general for foreigners settled in the country. In December 1895 it took the name of the Reform Committee, and was largely instrumental in bringing about the Jameson Raid, which took place at the end of that month, though it seems evident that the actual moment chosen for the Raid did not accord with its plans. After Jameson’s defeat the leaders of the Committee were arrested and tried for treason, four of them being sentenced to death, though they were afterwards reprieved.
A Statute of Edward III, in 1352, which defines high treason as plotting the death of the King or Queen, or their eldest son, levying war against the King, or comforting or adhering to his enemies. This Statute is still in force.
SeeAbbeville, Abo, Adam Kok, Adis Ababa, Adrianople, Aigun, Aix-la-Chapelle, Akerman, Alaska, Aliwal North, Amboise, American-Japanese, American-Spanish, Amiens, Anglo-Chinese, Anglo-Dutch, Anglo-French, Anglo-German, Anglo-Italian, Anglo-Japanese, Anglo-Portuguese, Anglo-Russian, Arras, Ashburton, Association, Barcelona, Bardo, Barrier, Barwalde, Basle, Bassein, Bekcagsog, Belgian, Berlin, Berwick, Black Sea, Bloemfontein, Bond-Blaine, Breda, Breslau, Brétigny, Brigham, Brömsebro, Brunnen, Brussels, Bucharest, Budchaz, Cadan, Caen, Campo-Formio, Cappel, Carlowitz, Cassini, Câteau Cambrésis, Chartres, Chaumont, Christian, Cintra, Clair-on-Epte, Clayton-Bulwer, Closter Seven, Commercial, Confederation, Conflans, Constance, Cretan, Crown, Cyprus, Dardanelles, Deogam, Dover, Dreikaiserbund, Dual, Edinburgh, Evora, Falczi, Falaise, Family, Ferdinand, Field, Fisheries, Folenbray, Fommanah, Fontainebleau, Franco-American, Franco-Annamese, Franco-Siamese, Frankfort, Frederickshamm, Gandamak, Gastein, Geneva, Ghent, Gisors, Grand Alliance, Great Intercourse, Guadeloupe-Hidalgo, Gulistan, Hanover, Hay-Pauncefote, Holy Alliance, Hubertsberg, Hué, Iglau, Imparani, Jassy, Joinville, Jay, July, Kenilworth, Kiel, Kuldja, Kutchuk Kainardji, Lahore, Lambeth, Lodi, London, Longjumeau, Lübeck, Loo, Lunéville, Luxemburg, Madras, Madrid, Malus Intercursus, Mandeshwar, Mangalore, Mantua, Meersen, Methuen, Moldavian, Monçon, Montpelier, Nanking, Nertchinsk, Newport, Nimeguen, Northampton, Nottingham, Nystad, Olmütz, Oregon, Paix, Panama, Paris, Passau, Passarowitz, Peace, Pecquigny, Péronne, Perpetual, Pilnitz, Poland, Prague, Presburg, Pretoria, Pruth, Purandhar, Pyrenees, Quadrilateral, Quadruple, Reichenbach, Reinsurance, Roeskild, Russo-Japanese, Ryswick, St. Germains, St. Petersburg, Salbai, Samoan, San Ildefonso, San Stefano, Sand River, Santiago, Schönbrunn, Secret, September, Seringapatam, Servian, Seville,Shimonoseki, Sikkim, Sitvatorok, Smithfield, Southampton, Stockenström, Stockholm, Stolbova, Suez, Surat, Swaziland, Szatmár, Szegedin, Teplitz, Teschen, Thaba Bosigo, Three Kings, Tientsin, Tilsit, Toledo, Tolentino, Tordesillas, Tourkmantchai, Tripartite, Triple, Tri-regal, Troyes, Turin, Unkiar Skelessi, Utrecht, Uxbridge, Vaal, Verdun, Vereeniging, Versailles, Vervins, Vienna, Villefranche, Wallachia, Wallingford, Washington, Waterboer, Wedmore, Werelä, Westphalia, Worms, Yandabo, Zanzibar, Zurich.
Ports specially set aside for trade purposes and the residence of foreigners in countries where unrestricted foreign trade is not permitted, as in China.
The thirty-three Uruguayan patriots who raised the standard of revolt against Brazil in 1825. Aided by Argentina, Uruguay shook off the Brazilian yoke and was proclaimed an independent republic in 1828.
The great emigration of Dutch settlers from Cape Colony in 1836 and 1837. A variety of causes, among others the emancipation of the Kaffir slaves, for which the farmers received very inadequate compensation, led to this trek, which brought about the first colonisation of the country beyond the Orange river. Other parties crossed the Drakensberg into Natal, where they established a republic in 1838.
An emigration of Boer farmers from the country between the Orange river and the Vaal, in 1844 and 1845. Their object was to escape British rule, which was about to be established in the country they were leaving, and which took shape in the Orange River Sovereignty in 1848. These trekkers founded the South African Republic.
A council summoned by Paul III in 1545, to settle, if possible, the religious questions arising out of the Reformation. The council lasted till 1563, and in the end merely emphasised the differences between the Catholic Church and the Reformers, reasserting as essentially Catholic the doctrines of purgatory, transubstantiation, the intercession of saints, and others.
The forcible removal from an English steamer, theTrent, by Captain Wilkes, of the U.S. sloopJacinto, of Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who were on their way to Europe as envoys of the Southern States in 1861. They were subsequently released, but not until considerable public feeling had been aroused on both sides, and the British Government had gone the length of reinforcing the Canadian garrison.
The Truce of God, imposed upon all the vassals of the Empire who were at war amongst themselves by an edict of the Emperor Henry III, issued at the Diet of Constance in 1403.It was to be observed from Wednesday evening till Monday morning in each week.
A tribunal, at first called the Tribunal Extraordinaire, established by the French Convention in March 1793, to deal with Royalist and other suspects and political prisoners. It was composed of five judges, with a standing jury, each member of which had to give his verdict audibly. There was no appeal from the decisions of this court, which sent some two thousand persons to the guillotine.
A sobriquet of John Bright.
Robespierre’s knitters were a knot of women who, during the Terror, used to sit, knitting, at the meetings of the Convention and of the Tribunal Révolutionnaire, or round the guillotine. They were also called “Les Furies de la Guillotine.”
An Act passed in 1694, limiting the duration of a Parliament to three years. It was practically repealed by the Septennial Act of 1716.
An examining body appointed by Cromwell in 1554, to inquire into the qualifications of persons appointed to benefices. Any one, other than a Catholic, whose creed was fundamentally orthodox, and whose life was free from reproach, was permitted to retain his cure.
A document submitted to Charles I by Ormonde in 1643, in which the Irish Catholics complained of the disabilities under which they laboured owing to the legislation of Elizabeth’s reign. At the same time they offered to place ten thousand men at the King’s disposal.
In Saxon times the obligation thrown on every inhabitant of bearing his share in (1) war service; (2) the repair of roads and bridges; and (3) the maintenance of fortifications. This obligation was continued after the Conquest.
A treaty between the British, the Nizam of Hyderabad, and a representative of the ancient royal family of Mysore, dividing between the three signatories, the dominions of Tippu Sahib.
A treaty signed by Great Britain, France and Austria, immediately after signature of the Treaty of Paris of 1856, guaranteeing the independence and territorial integrity of Turkey, and declaring that they would consider any infraction of the Treaty of Paris to be a casus belli.
An alliance concluded in 1668 between England, Holland and Sweden, by which the contracting parties bound themselves to oppose the advance of France. Within two years, however, Charles II signed a treaty with the French king, binding himself not to interfere with the French designs on the Netherlands.
An alliance of England,France and Holland, guaranteeing the clauses of the Treaty of Utrecht with reference to the English Protestant succession, the French succession, and the renunciation by Spain of her claim to the throne of France. It was intended as a counterpoise to the alliance of Russia, Sweden and Spain. It became the Quadruple Alliance by the adhesion of Austria in 1718.
In 1879 Germany and Austria entered into a defensive alliance, which provided for mutual assistance against Russia, and at least a benevolent neutrality against any other Power. In 1883 it was announced that Italy was a party to this alliance, which then became known as the Triple Alliance. It has been several times renewed, the last occasion being in 1902.
An alliance between the English, the Peshwa and the Nizam, concluded in 1790, by which it was agreed that the contracting parties should combine to invade the dominions of Tippoo Sahib, and that all conquests should be equally divided between them.
The war waged by Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay against Paraguay from 1865 to 1869.
An alliance between the kings of Prussia, Saxony and Hanover in 1849, with the object of bringing about a union of the German States, to the exclusion of Austria. It was broken up by the Humiliation of Olmütz in 1850.
Rudolph II of Germany was so called.
Grenville’s Ministry in 1763 was so called, because the Secretaries of State, Lords Egremont and Halifax, were regarded as holding the direction of affairs jointly with Grenville.
The league between the Duc de Guise, the Maréchal de St. André, and the Constable of France in the reign of Charles IX was so called.
This title was given to Adam Czartoryski, Novossiltsof and Strogonof, the three principal advisers of Alexander I of Russia on his accession.
A meeting of the Russian, Austrian and Prussian sovereigns in 1820, to consider the questions raised by the Neapolitan revolution, and to confirm the Holy Alliance.
An attack by the Gordons under Robert Johnston on the Covenanters at Turriff in 1639, the Covenanters being driven out.
SeeBlood Council.
SeeFarquharsons.
A treaty signed in 1420 by Henry V of England and Philip, Count of Charolais, on behalf of the Burgundian Party, by which it was provided that Henry should marry Catherineof France, and succeed to the French Crown on the death of Charles VI. It only resulted in a fresh effort on the part of the patriotic party, the Armagnacs, and the defeat of the English at Beaugé, while Henry, hastening back to France to re-establish his position, died there in 1422.
An Act passed in 1831, and extended in 1887, forbidding the payment of wages, either wholly or in part, in goods. It applies to all persons engaged in manual labour, except domestic servants.
The old Board of Foreign Affairs in China. It was abolished by Imperial edict in 1901, and replaced by a new Board known as the Wai-Wupu.
The name given to an agreement between Ulrich of Würtemberg and his subjects in 1514, by which the latter agreed to pay the Duke’s debts in return for certain concessions.
Bands of revolted peasants in the Cevennes in 1381, who waged war against all who did not belong to the labouring classes.
A secret society established in Germany in 1808, to arouse the national spirit against the domination of Napoleon.
The contemptuous sobriquet given to the titular bishops in Scotland, 1572, referring to their surrender to the lay patrons of practically the whole of their benefices. “Tulchan” is a calf-skin, stuffed with straw, used to induce a cow to give her milk more easily.
A treaty signed in 1860 by France and Sardinia, providing for the cession to France of Savoy and Nice, in return for Lombardy, in accordance with the secret agreement of Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel.
A trading company incorporated in 1581, for the consolidation of the various interests trading in the Levant.
A nickname of George I, who is said to have suggested planting St. James’s Park with turnips.
A popular name for the State of North Carolina, referring to its large production of turpentine.
A league of the Tuscan cities, formed under the auspices of Innocent III, “for the honour and aggrandizement of the Apostolic See.” Pisa alone refused to join the league.
A ring headed by W. M. Tweed, the Tammany Boss, which robbed the city of New York of large sums. Tweed was convicted of fraud in 1873. See Tammany.
A body of peers, holding direct from the Crown, whowere limited to twelve during the reign of Philip Augustus (1180-1223). They were six lay peers, namely, the Dukes of Normandy, Aquitaine and Burgundy, and the Counts of Toulouse, Flanders and Champagne; and six spiritual, the Archbishop of Rheims, and the Bishops of Beauvais, Châlons, Langres, Laon, and Noyon.
In 1230 a secret society formed, under the leadership of Sir Robert Twenge, to oppose the granting of benefices to foreign priests, had recourse to violent measures to advance their cause. Many foreigners were robbed and outraged, and Twenge had the audacity to justify himself before Henry III, and was allowed to go unpunished.
A joint committee appointed by the English and Scots Parliaments in 1643, after the acceptance of the Solemn League and Covenant, to carry on the war against the King.
SeeShôgun.
The legislature of the Isle of Man. It is composed of two houses, the Council and the House of Keys.
The ten persons united under the system of Frankpledge were called a tything.