The name given to the proprietors of allodial lands in the Orkneys.
A decree of the Czar of Russia is so called. The Czar being an absolute monarch, it has all the force of a legal enactment.
The body of professional theologians and lawyers in Turkey. They are the interpreters of the law of the Koran, and from their body are selected the pleaders and magistrates as well as the priests. The head of the Ulema is the Sheyk-ul-Islam.
The surrender of the Austrian General Mack, with 30,000 men, to Napoleon in October 1805.
A system of land tenure prevailing in the greater part of Ulster, by which the tenant’s property in all improvements affected by him is recognised by the landlord. This custom had practically the force of law, and was made a part of the Irish Land Laws by Mr. Gladstone’s Act of 1870.
The Irish rebellion of 1641 began with an attack upon the English settlers in Ulster, many of whom, living outside the towns, were murdered in cold blood. The number of victims has been put as high as 300,000, but this is doubtless a gross exaggeration. Still, some thousands unquestionably perished.
The colonisation, between 1606 and 1612, of lands forfeited from Tyrone, Tyrconel,and other rebels, by retired servants of the Crown. It was a condition of the colonisation that the Irish were to be confined to their own districts, and not allowed to settle on the forfeited lands. The City of London undertook the colonisation of Derry.
A sobriquet of Horace Walpole (1717-97).
The name given to any party strongly supporting the Papal claim to temporal power. It was used especially in Germany, of the Catholic party, led by Dr. Windthorst during the Kulturkampf.
A treaty between the East India Company and Ranjit Singh, concluded in 1809. It provided that the British should not seek to exercise any control in the territories north of the Sutlej, while Ranjit Singh agreed to respect the rights of the cis-Sutlej chiefs living under British protection.
A Bull issued by Boniface VIII at the Council of Rome in 1302, declaring that the temporal power is inferior to the spiritual, and that the Pope has the power of appointing and deposing sovereigns. This Bull was specially directed against Philip the Fair of France.
The popular name for the Government of the United States.
Charles Stewart Parnell was called the Uncrowned King of Ireland.
An organization formed in the Northern States of America, after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850, to aid fugitive slaves to escape to British territory.
A number of English gentlemen who undertook the settlement of Ulster in 1569. The forfeited lands were to be peopled by settling a family on each 240 acres, and no Irish were to be admitted as tenants. Neither of these obligations was adhered to, and little was accomplished till the Plantation of Ulster in 1606.
The name given to certain members of the Addled Parliament in 1615, who undertook to control it in the interests of the King. Their plans became known, and they consequently failed to carry out their scheme.
Twenty-five Irish landowners who, in the unreformed Parliament, were able to control the return of 116 members out of a house of 300. They were thus enabled to make their own terms with the Government, and were consequently known by the above title.
An Act passed in 1549 (Edward VI), forbidding the use in churches of any book of prayers except the Book of Common Prayer approved by the Parliament then sitting, and known as Edward VI’s First Prayer Book. Certain alterations having been made in the book, a further Act was passed in 1552, substituting the new version for the First Prayer Book. The use of this book having been abolished during Mary’s reign, it was again made obligatory by an Act of Queen Elizabeth in 1559, and made to apply to Ireland, while the same course was pursued after the Restoration in 1662, with the additional proviso that no clergyman might hold a living who was not ordained by a bishop and prepared to accept the Prayer Book.
A Bull issued by Innocent X in 1653, in condemnation of the Jansenist heresy.
A union of the League with the less bigoted Catholics of France, formed in 1588 on the virtual acceptance by Henri III of the League formulas.
An underground cellar in the High Street, Edinburgh, where the principal supporters of the union with England held secret meetings, the feeling against the union being so strong that they dared not meet openly.
A union formed in 1891 to hinder the movement for adhesion to the Republic on the part of the Catholic party. Its leaders were M. de Chesnelong, the Comte de Mun, and the Baron de Mackau.
By this instrument, promulgated in 1397 by Margaret of Denmark, the three northern kingdoms of Norway, Sweden and Denmark were united into one monarchy. It was renounced by Sweden in 1523.
The union flag, when hoisted at the jackstaff of a man-of-war, is so called. The union flag is composed of the red cross of St. George on a white ground (England), the white saltire of St. Andrew on a blue ground (Scotland), and the red saltire of St. Patrick on a white ground (Ireland).
The Act of Union with Ireland was finally passed in 1800. Resolutions in favour of it had been submitted to the Irish Parliament in 1799, and though supported in the main by the Irish Catholics, they were opposed by Grattan, Curran and other Irish leaders, and rejected. Pitt was determined that in the interests of both countries the union must take place, and, the Irish Parliament having been dissolved, he succeeded by unlimited bribery in securing a Parliament containing a majority pledged to vote for the union. This Parliament met in 1800, and the necessary resolution was passed by a majority of forty-six.
The Parliamentary Union between the two kingdoms was agreed to in 1706, the terms being settled by commissioners, thirty-one on each side, appointed for the purpose. The basis of the agreement was that there should be one kingdom, one Parliament and one Successor. The national flags were to be combined, and the two countries known as the United Kingdom. The confirming Act was passed by the Scots Parliament in 1706, by the English in 1707.
SeeClan-na-Gael.
SeeConfederation, Treaty of.
A combination of the eight Provincial Assemblies of the Prussian monarchy, convened by Frederick William IV in 1847. It sat for eleven weeks only, and was replaced by the Constituent Assembly summoned to prepare a constitution in 1848.
A league founded by William O’Brien in the congested districts of the west of Ireland in 1897. Its ostensible object is to secure an increase in the size of tenants’ holdings by breaking up grass farms. Its methods are not free from intimidation.
A society founded in 1789 by Wolfe Tone, in the attempt to unite, in opposition to the Government, the Irish Catholics and the Republican Protestants of Ulster.
The name given to the seven provinces of the Netherlands, namely, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Friesland, Groningen, Gelderland and Oberyssel, which formed the Union of Utrecht in 1579.
An Act passed in 1871, abolishing all religious tests for admission to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and making all graduates of the Universities eligible for fellowships, whether in Holy Orders or not.
A treaty between Russia and Turkey, signed in 1833, by which, regardless of the protests of France and England, Turkey agreed to open the Bosphorus to the warships of Russia, while the Dardanelles remained closed to those of every other Power.
The Parliament of Henry IV, which met at Coventry in 1404, was so called because it contained no lawyers.
Frederick, Emperor of Germany, was called Our Fritz by his subjects.
A phrase applied to the Ottoman Empire. It was first used by Thomas Carlyle.
The name given to the first Parliament of Charles I. It met in June 1625, was removed to Oxford in August, and dissolved on the 12th of that month without having transacted any business.
By common law, landed property could only be left to the eldest son, and it had become the custom to saddle property so left with “uses,” or charges, in favour of the younger children. This had caused inextricable confusion as to title, and a statute of Henry VIII,passed in 1535, forbade the practice. It was very soon repealed.
A term signifying the retention by the parties to a treaty of all such territories as they may have conquered or become possessed of up to the signature of the document.
The name given to a section of the Hussites who stood firm in their demand that the Communion should be administered in both kinds.
A treaty signed in 1713 between Louis XIV and the allies, England and Holland, the Emperor not being a party to the instrument, at the close of the War of the Spanish Succession. By its terms the allies recognized the Bourbon succession to the Spanish throne, with the proviso that the two crowns should never be united in one person. Louis acknowledged Anne and the Protestant Succession. England retained Gibraltar, Minorca and Newfoundland, the latter subject to the fishery rights of France. Spain again granted England the Asiento, and certain fortified towns were given to the Dutch as a barrier in the Netherlands. The Emperor signed a separate treaty at Rastadt in the following year.
A union of the various provinces of the Netherlands in 1597, when they undertook to support each other in opposing the claims of the Spanish King. The free exercise of the Protestant religion was guaranteed to Holland and Zeeland. This union may be looked upon as the foundation stone of the Dutch Republic.
An attempt on the part of the Presbyterians in Parliament to come to terms with Charles I in 1645. Negotiations were opened at Uxbridge, the Parliamentary demands being the abolition of Episcopacy, the continuation of the war in Ireland, and the control by Parliament of the Army and Navy and of appointments to the great offices of State. The King withdrew from the negotiations, owing to the dissensions in Parliament between the Independents and Presbyterians, which he anticipated would eventually enable him to obtain better terms.
A treaty between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, signed in 1857, after President Pretorius’ abortive invasion of the Free State. The two countries mutually acknowledged each other’s independence, with the Vaal as the boundary between them. The Transvaal repudiated the acts of Pretorius in his attempt to interfere with the internal Government of the Free State, while the Free State undertook to use every endeavour to compel Schoeman and Joubert to cease hostilities, and further agreed to accord to burghers ofthe Transvaal the same privileges as were granted to those of Cape Colony and Natal.
An Act passed in 1898, substituting the use of calf-lymph for the old arm-to-arm system in public vaccination, and permitting parents who had a conscientious objection, to withhold their children from vaccination, on satisfying a magistrate of the same.
An Act passed in 1704, empowering Justices of the Peace to hand over to the military authorities, as recruits, all able-bodied men who were without visible means of subsistence.
A massacre of the Grisons Protestants in the Valtelline Valley in 1620, by Robustelli, acting with the connivance of the Austrians and the Spaniards.
In the Middle Ages, the condition of feudal dependence, either upon the Lord Paramount, as in the case of the great territorial nobles, or upon a vassal of the Lord Paramount.
The massacre, in 1562, of a body of Huguenots who, in accordance with their strict legal rights, were holding a service outside the town of Vassy in Champagne. The murderers were the retinue of the Duc de Guise, and the victims numbered sixty, while over two hundred were wounded. This atrocity led to the outbreak of the first Huguenot War.
The Œcumenical Council held in Rome in 1870, at which the dogma of the Infallibility of the Pope was promulgated.
The name given on the Continent to the vassals of the great feudal lords.
Secret tribunals established in Germany during the Middle Ages, to try persons arraigned on capital charges, and to carry out the sentence in case of conviction. The most famous was that of Westphalia. Any free born German was eligible as a member, or Freischöffe, and many German Princes were initiated. The powers of the Vehmgerichte were greatly curtailed by Maximilian, the original purpose of these tribunals having been overshadowed by their employment as vehicles of private vengeance, and they gradually lost all influence, till they were finally dissolved by Jerome Buonaparte in 1811.
The third, or agricultural, caste among the Hindus.
A rising of native troops in the Madras Presidency in 1806, caused by a change in the headdress of the Sepoy, to whom it was suggested by agitators that he was to be forcibly Christianized. The rising was soon suppressed.
In January 1895 Venezuelan troops crossed the Cuyuni river, part of the Schomburgk line,into British Guiana, and hoisted the Venezuelan flag in territory which had been occupied by the British colonists for many years. Obtaining no redress, Lord Salisbury issued an ultimatum, whereupon Venezuela appealed to the United States to intervene, in support of the Monroe doctrine. President Cleveland and Mr. Olney took a high hand, and went the length of appointing an American Commission to examine into the boundary question. After long negotiation arbitration was agreed upon, and a treaty settling the details was signed in February 1897. The award of the arbitrators was issued in 1899, and practically confirmed the British claim to the Schomburgk line, but gave Venezuela Barima Point, at the mouth of the Orinoco, and a tract of country west of the Wenama river.
A league formed in 1495 between Spain, Austria, Milan, Venice and Rome, the signatories binding themselves to unite for the protection of any one of the contracting parties that was attacked, and especially for the preservation of the States of the Church. It is the first example in history of a coalition for mutual defence.
A plot of the Fifth Monarchy men in 1660, under Thomas Venner, to dethrone Charles II. The plan was to seize Whitehall during the King’s absence, when Venner, a wild fanatic, trusted to Divine help to carry out the rest of his scheme. The plot failed, and Venner and other leaders were arrested, but only after a desperate resistance.
A treaty signed in 843, after a short conflict, by the three sons of Charlemagne, Charles the Bald, Louis and Lothair. The eldest son, Lothair, renounced his right to the paramountcy, and the younger sons entered into full enjoyment of their territories, the Empire being thus divided. This treaty marks the division of the Frankish nation into French and Germans.
The conference of Boer leaders held at Vereeniging in May 1902, at which the terms of surrender were discussed and finally accepted. The terms provided for the immediate laying down of arms by the Boer commandos, the acknowledgment of the King as their lawful sovereign, the return of the Boer prisoners as soon as practicable, freedom of surrendered burghers from all judicial proceedings except for acts contrary to the usages of war, the use of the Dutch language in the schools, if demanded, and in the law courts when necessary, and the establishment in due course of representative government. The British Government further agreed to provide £3,000,000 as a free gift, towards the re-settlement of the country, and a loan of unstated amount, on easy terms, for the same purpose.
An Act passed in India in1878 to control native newspapers publishing seditious libels. It gave the Government power to make the editor of a native newspaper enter into a bond not to print seditious matter, and also authorized the seizure of plant in the event of non-compliance with the terms of the bond. The Act was repealed in 1882.
A Congress of the Powers held in 1822, to consider the situation in Spain. It resulted in the armed intervention of France in the following year.
A rising at Verona in 1797, during the French occupation. It was promptly put down, but not before the Veronese had murdered four hundred French sick and wounded, lying in the hospitals of the town.
A treaty signed in 1783 between Great Britain on the one hand, and Spain, France and the United States on the other, at the conclusion of the American War of Independence. France retained Tobago, and Spain, Florida and Minorca, but all other conquests were restored on both sides. As between Great Britain and the United States, this treaty simply confirmed the provisions of the Treaty of Peace of 1782.
A treaty signed in 1598 between Henri IV of France and Philip II of Spain, after the recovery by Henri of Amiens, which had fallen into the hands of the Spaniards. By its terms France recovered all the territory occupied by Spain during the previous ten years, her frontier being restored to that settled by the Treaty of Câteau Cambrésis.
Under the Swiss Constitution, the right of the people to reject a law passed by the Assembly, by means of the Referendum.
An Act passed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1834, at the instigation of Dr. Chalmers, declaring it to be a fundamental law of the Church that no pastor could be imposed on a congregation against their will.
These were three in number, caused by attempts to tack on to the Appropriation Bill resolutions of a controversial character. The first occurred in 1865, when the Legislative Council refused to pass the Appropriation Bill with certain tariff resolutions of a protective character appended. The Governor thereupon declined to sign warrants for payments out of the Treasury, and the business of the country was at a standstill. The Government, however, got out of the difficulty by having recourse to the banks. The second or great deadlock arose from the inclusion in the Appropriation Bill of a grant of £20,000 to Sir Charles Darling, the retiring Governor, in 1867. This was ended by the refusal of Sir Charles, in July 1868, to accept the grant. The third arose in 1877 over thequestion of payment of members, the council again refusing to pass the Appropriation Bill with this provision tacked on. The Government thereupon dismissed a large number of civil servants. A compromise was, however, arrived at, and the officials reinstated. The day on which the dismissals took place is known as Black Wednesday.
A congress of the Great Powers, held in 1814-15, at which Great Britain, France, Austria, Prussia and Russia were represented. It confirmed in its main features the Treaty of Paris of 1815, with the following additional provisions: one-third of the kingdom of Saxony was surrendered to Prussia; the Duchy of Posen was retained by Prussia, and part of Galicia by Austria, while Russia secured the rest of Poland; the Bourbons were restored in Naples, the Tyrol was given back to Austria, and certain arrangements made as to the minor German and Italian States. The Congress further pronounced in favour of the free navigation of rivers, and of the suppression of the slave trade.
A conference of the four Great Powers, held in 1853, with the object of mediating between Russia and Turkey. A note was drawn up which was accepted by Russia, but refused by Turkey, the Sultan declining to admit that Russia’s championship alone maintained the Greek Church in his dominions. During the sitting of the conference Turkey declared war. It being found impossible to bring the antagonists to terms, the conference was dissolved.
A treaty signed in 1738 by Austria, France, Spain and Sardinia, after the War of the Polish Succession. By its provisions Lorraine was ceded to France, the Duke of Lorraine receiving in exchange the Duchy of Tuscany. Spain retained Naples and Sicily, and Sardinia obtained Novara and Tortona, and some other frontier towns.
A treaty between France and Austria, signed in 1809 after the defeat of the Austrians at Wagram, by which Austria was despoiled of further territory for the benefit of France, Russia and Bavaria. Austria also agreed to recognize Joseph Buonaparte as King of Spain, and to support the Continental Blockade.
A treaty between Spain and Austria, by which Spain accepted the Pragmatic Sanction, and agreed to open her ports to German commerce; while Austria recognized Don Carlos as the successor to the Duchies of Parma and Tuscany, and undertook to use her influence with England to obtain the restoration to Spain of Gibraltar and Minorca. There was, however, a further secret treaty, binding both countries to assist in the restoration of the Stuarts, while Austria promised aid in compelling the return of Gibraltar and Minorca, by force if necessary.
A treaty between Austria, Spain, Holland and England. The three latter powers united in guaranteeing the Pragmatic Sanction, while Austria agreed to the occupation of Parma and Tuscany by Spanish garrisons.
A council summoned by Pope Clement V in 1312, at which he pronounced the dissolution of the Order of Knights Templars.
Marshal Soult (1769-1851) was so called by his soldiers.
The periodical revision by the Hundred Court of the Tythings, or divisions of ten men, under the system of Frankpledge.
The name given to an expedition under Sir George Rooke in 1702, when the English fleet forced an entrance into Vigo Bay, and destroyed the French fleet, together with the Spanish galleons, which had just arrived with treasure from America.
The surrender of the Magyars at the end of the Hungarian War of Independence in 1849. It was negotiated between General Görgey and the Russian General Paskievitch, and it is said on good authority, though there is no documentary evidence to prove it, that Görgey was induced to consent to the surrender by the promise that no Hungarian officer should be given up to the Austrians, and that Russia would undertake to secure independence for the Magyars under a Russian Prince. The promise, if ever made, was certainly not kept, and the Austrians tried and executed many of the Magyar leaders.
A treaty between France, Sardinia and Austria, signed in 1859, after the defeats of the latter Power at Magenta and Solferino. Austria withdrew entirely from Lombardy, which was made over to Sardinia, in accordance with the arrangement secretly arrived at between Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel.
Under the feudal system in England the serfs or dependents of the feudal lords were so called. They were bound to the soil and forced to render various menial services. On the Continent the villeins appear to have been in a better position than the serfs proper, being bound only to pay certain tribute, or render certain definite services.
An edict of Francis I of France, issued in 1539, to reform the administration of justice, and abbreviate trials. It also provided for the official registration of baptisms and burials.
The name given to the Viking Colony on the American Continent, probably a portion of Rhode Island, founded by Leif, son of Eric the Red, about 1000A.D.
Queen Elizabeth of England was so called.
The first Colonial Charter,issued by James I in 1606. A certain territory was thereby set aside to be colonised by two companies of adventurers, one from London, the other from the west of England. The first company only was successful. The land was to be held on a tenure of homage, and a small royalty payable on all precious metals extracted from the soil. An English council was formed, to exercise a general superintendence over the affairs of the colony. All colonists and their descendants were to retain their rights as British subjects.
A declaration drafted by George Mason, and voted by the Convention of Virginia, in May 1776. It declared that all power sprang from and was vested in the people; that all men were free by nature; that government should be for the common welfare; that no office should be hereditary, and that there should be no restraint of the free exercise of religion.
An ordinance issued in 1621, giving Virginia a written constitution. It provided for a Governor and a permanent Council, appointed by the Virginia Company, and for an elected assembly, with legislative powers, to meet annually. The acts of this assembly were subject to the Governor’s veto, and must further be ratified by the Company in London, while all ordinances issued by the Company equally required the ratification of the assembly. It was also provided that the procedure of the colonial courts should be assimilated to the English practice.
The Princes of Moldavia and Wallachia were so called until 1789, when these principalities came under the protection of Russia.
The popular assembly in the Orange Free State and the South African Republic was so called.
The name given to the Boers who took part in the Great Trek of 1836-7.
A resolution of the Long Parliament, passed on January 15, 1648, refusing, in view of the duplicity shown by Charles in the negotiations at Carisbrook, to receive any message from, or make any application to, the King.
A Royalist conspiracy to assassinate the Protector on his way to Hampton Court in 1654.
A bull of Clement V, issued in 1312, suppressing the Order of the Knights Templars.
A method of trial based on the Norse trial by duel, introduced into England by William the Conqueror. Any person charged with an offence by a private individual could challenge himto mortal combat, and if he were successful, or could escape defeat for a whole day, was acquitted of the charge. Wager of battle was not legally abolished until 1819.
A sect of fanatical Mohammedans, whose centre is at Nejd, in Arabia, though they are spread over the whole Moslem world. As a military power they were at one time to be feared, but their organization was broken up by Mehemet Ali and Ibrahim Pasha at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
A treaty between the British Government and the Maories in 1840, whereby the latter acknowledged the English sovereignty over New Zealand, while they were guaranteed in the undisturbed possession of their lands.
The new board appointed by the Emperor of China in 1902, to succeed the Tsung-li-Yamen in the control of Foreign Affairs. It has precedence over all the other departments of State.
An abortive expedition despatched by England to the Island of Walcheren in 1809, with the object of capturing Antwerp and destroying the French fleet in the Scheldt. The expedition captured Flushing, but had no further success, and was withdrawn within the year, the major portion of the force employed having been incapacitated by fever.
The constitution established in Denmark by Waldemar III, surnamed the Restorer (1340-75).
A religious sect who seceded from the Church under Peter Waldo, a Lyons merchant, about 1160. They spread rapidly over France and Germany, but their chief seat was in the valleys of Savoy and the Pays de Vaud. They suffered persecution under Philip Augustus (1180-1223), and again under Francis I in 1540, and finally were almost exterminated by Louvois between 1687 and 1690.
A court established in the reign of James I, to supersede the ordinary courts in the counties of Hereford, Shropshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, which were withdrawn from the jurisdiction of the common law, on the plea that they were the Welsh Marches.
A series of severely repressive laws against the Welsh, issued by Henry IV in 1401.
A statute of Edward I, issued in 1284, on the annexation of Wales. It applied to the conquered country the laws and institutions of England, with such exceptions as were deemed advisable to meet the prejudices of the Welsh.SeeRhudlann.
The dungeon of Ardrossaninto which Wallace threw the bodies of the slaughtered garrison, when he captured the fortress in the reign of Edward I.
A treaty between Murad I of Turkey, and the Voivode of Wallachia, signed in 1391, by which the Voivode recognized the suzerainty of Turkey, and agreed to pay an annual tribute.
A conspiracy headed by Waller, the poet, who had been won over by the Royalists in 1643, to collect troops and seize upon London. The plot miscarried, however, and Waller was forced to make his submission to the Parliament.
A treaty signed in 1153, which ended the civil war of Stephen. Stephen was accepted as King, while Henry of Anjou was recognized by Stephen as heir to the throne. It was also agreed that the castles were to be razed, and all foreign mercenaries dismissed.
The Covenanters who left their homes to follow their dispossessed ministers in 1669 were so called.
A gathering of the people in ancient Scottish times, for the purpose of ascertaining that every man was properly armed, and fit to take the field if called upon.
In the counties settled by the Danes, these correspond to the Saxon Hundreds.
A court established by Henry VIII in 1540, to enforce the rights of the Crown over its wards, and secure to the King the full benefit arising from the exercise of wardship. The court was abolished in 1660.
In early feudal times, in the event of a minor succeeding to a fief, the overlord claimed to act as guardian, both of the land and of the infant. This right was restricted by Magna Charta.
SeeArkansas, Armagnac, Augsburg, Austrian Succession, Barons, Bavarian Succession, Bien Public, Bread and Cheese, Casenbrotspel, Douglas, Farthings, Hundred Years, Hungarian, Jenkin’s Ear, King Philip, Nobles, Opium, Pacific, Polish Succession, Rappenkrieg, Reforma, Seven Weeks, Seven Years, Spanish Succession, Thirty Years.
An assembly of German students held in 1817, to commemorate the tercentenary of the Reformation. The occasion was utilised for the formation of a league of students to promote liberal ideas in politics and national unity.
SeeAshburton Treaty.
A treaty between England and the United States, signed in 1871, providing for the submission to arbitration of the Alabama and the San Juan questions, and arranging amodus vivendi on the Canadian Fishery Question. Both the arbitrations went against Great Britain.
A statute passed in 1285 (13th Edward I), providing for the policing of the streets of London.
The first treaty signed in South Africa with a native chief. Waterboer was a Griqualand chief, and by this treaty, signed in 1834, he undertook to maintain order within his territories and protect the colonial border from marauders passing through his country, in return for which he was to receive £100 per annum, and two hundred muskets and ammunition.
A treaty between Alfred and the Danes, concluded after the defeat of the latter at Edington in 878. By this treaty East Anglia was surrendered to the Danes, while a line was drawn separating their kingdom from Wessex, by which a large portion of Mercia was restored to Wessex. It was further provided that the Danes were to hold their lands as vassals of the King of Wessex, and to embrace Christianity.
In Anglo-Saxon times, a money compensation paid by a murderer to the relatives of the murdered man. It varied in amount according to the rank of the victim.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1790, at the conclusion of the war entered into by Gustavus of Sweden to support the Turks. No territorial changes took place.
An assembly of divines, held between 1643 and 1649, at which Presbyterianism was made the established religion of England, in accordance with the Solemn League and Covenant. The assembly also issued the Directory, as a substitute for the Book of Common Prayer.
The confession of faith issued by the Westminster Assembly in 1643. It contains thirty-three articles, and is an exposition of the Calvinistic doctrine.
A series of provisions based on those of Oxford, issued in 1259, and afterwards embodied in the Statute of Marlborough.
The first Statute of Westminster was passed by the first Parliament of Edward I in 1275. It was practically a codification of previously existing laws and statutes which had not been fully enforced. It secured the Church in its rights, re-enacted the various charters, and reformed many abuses in the administration of the law. The second Statute of Westminster is the Statute also known as De Donis Conditionalibus.
A synod held in 1102, at which decrees were issued against simony, marriage of the clergy and other ecclesiastical abuses,and also against the selling of men into slavery.
This treaty, signed in 1648 by France, Sweden and the Empire, put an end to the Thirty Years’ War. It established and recognized Protestantism in Germany, and made provision for the equal representation of the two religions in the German Diet. France obtained Alsace, Sweden secured Bremen, North Pomerania and Stettin, and there were certain changes among the smaller German States.
A rising of the peasantry of the west of Scotland in 1648, in opposition to the supporters of the Engagement.
A name first applied to the Covenanters in the west of Scotland, and afterwards to the anti-Stuart party in England. They later represented the party of progress and reform, in which sense they were the predecessors of the Liberals.
The name given to the English Tories who supported the House of Hanover on the accession of George I.
The name given to the Six Articles of Henry VIII, issued in 1539.
A serious rising in Western Pennsylvania in 1794, caused by an attempt of the authorities to suppress illicit distillation, which was rife in that region. Some six or seven thousand insurgents were in arms, and the outbreak was only suppressed after the militia of four of the neighbouring States had been called out.
A synod held in 664, at which the Saxon Churches definitely decided to adhere to the Church of Rome, rather than to the Celtic Church founded in Ireland by St. Columba.
The name given to the Parliament of 1321, which banished the Despencers, owing to the followers of the Barons wearing white favours.
SeeChaperons Blancs.
The parish priests in Russia are so called, as distinguished from the Black Clergy, or monastic priesthood. They take no part in ecclesiastical administration, and are permitted to marry.
A famous band of mercenaries which served in the French wars, and, after the Peace of Brétigny, in Italy. Its leader was Sir John Hawkwood.
The Knights Hospitallers were so called.
The nickname given by the Turks to George Castriot (Iskander Beg), the Albanian hero (1404-67).
An organization formed in the Southern States, after theAmerican Civil War, to prevent the exercise of the franchise by the coloured population.
The Turcomans who overran Persia in 1468 were so called.
SeeBlanche Nef.
SeeLevellers.
A secret association in Indiana, U.S.A., formed originally as a vigilance society, which later was guilty of many outrages.
The ministry formed by Lord Derby in 1852. Many of its members were new to office, and the story goes that the Duke of Wellington, who was very deaf, was being told by Lord Derby the names of his colleagues. At each unfamiliar name, the Duke kept ejaculating, Who? Who?
The name given to the Irishmen recruited by France for service in the Irish Brigade during the eighteenth century.
A statute passed in 1540, providing that land held in fee simple might be devised by will. This right had been greatly restricted by the Plantagenet legislation.
The sobriquet of William, Prince of Orange (1533-84).
An amendment, carried by Mr. David Wilmot, in the United States House of Representatives, to the Bill for the purchase of Mexican territory in 1846. It provided that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude should ever exist in the territory to be acquired. The amendment was thrown out by the Senate.
A re-enactment in 1285 of the Assize of Arms of Henry II. It laid upon the counties the duty of keeping order within their boundaries, and of suppressing brigandage and highway robbery, and defined their obligations towards the national defence.
The nickname of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, who was King of Bohemia during the winter of 1619-20.
A code of maritime laws issued during the fourteenth century, governing the operations of the Baltic traders. It takes its name from Wisbuy, a town in Gothland.
A code of laws framed by Casimir the Great, in 1347, which remained the basis of Polish legislation till the end of the eighteenth century.
In Saxon times, the central assembly of the nation, presided over by the King or his representative. In early days it was open to all freemen, but later came to be composed of the nobles and thegns about the King’s person. The word signifies the Assembly of the Wise.
John Sobieski, King of Poland(1674-96), was so called by the Turks.
The State of Michigan, U.S.A., is so called, because in early days it was infested with wolverines.
A Parliament of Richard II, assembled in 1388. It consisted almost entirely of partisans of the Duke of Gloucester, and during a session of 122 days was mainly occupied in the removal of his enemies. It is also known as the Merciless Parliament.
A controversy between the English and Irish Parliaments in 1722, over a patent granted to an Englishman named Wood, to coin copper money for issue in Ireland. Dean Swift’s famous “Drapier’s Letters” appeared on the Irish side of the controversy, and eventually the patent was withdrawn.
The sobriquet of Frederick II, Emperor of Germany (1215-50).
A concordat negotiated at the Synod of Mayence, and proclaimed at Worms in 1122, by which the Pope agreed to the election of bishops and abbots by their chapters, throughout the German Empire. The Emperor renounced the right of investiture with the ring and staff, but it was agreed that this investiture should not take place till the newly elected prelate had sworn fealty to the Emperor. This concordat was confirmed by the first Lateran Council in 1123.
A Diet held in 1521, to which Luther was summoned, under a safe conduct, in order that he might have the opportunity of retracting his heresies. This he declined to do, and but for the assistance of the Elector of Saxony, he would very probably have met with the fate of John Huss under similar circumstances.
An edict issued by the Diet of Worms in 1521, outlawing Luther, and all those who sheltered or aided him, or who printed, sold or read his works.
An alliance between England, Holland, Austria, Saxony and Sardinia, signed in 1743, to uphold the Pragmatic Sanction.
A league of the Catholic princes of Germany, formed in 1610, under Maximilian of Bavaria, to oppose the Protestant Union.
The Constitution of Kansas, adopted in 1859, under which Kansas was admitted to the Union. It abolished slavery throughout the State.
During the American War of Independence in 1778, the settlement in the Valley of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, was attacked by the British, together with a band of Seneca Indians. Most of the able-bodied men were in the field under Washington, and only 300 opposed the British force, which overpowered them, and accepted their surrender.It was, however, impossible to control the Indians, who later again attacked the settlement, and massacred a large number of the inhabitants.
An American mission despatched to France in 1797. Attempts were made to bribe them, the agents employed using, in their correspondence, the initials X, Y, Z.
A treaty between Great Britain and Burmah, signed in 1826, at the end of the Burmah War of 1824, whereby Great Britain acquired Arrakan and Tenasserim.
SeeAnglo-German Agreement.
The name first applied to the colonists in the New England States by the British soldiers during the American War of Independence. It is supposed to be derived from an Indian corruption of English—“Yengies,” or “Yanghies.”
This name was given by the French during the Thirty Years’ War to the year 1636, when the Imperial troops penetrated into France to Corbie, within fifty miles of Paris, and apparently had the capital at their mercy. They preferred, however, to retire, loaded with booty, but the imminent danger was long an unpleasant memory to the Parisians.
Charles James Fox (1749-1806) was so called.
The Radical section of the Czech or National Party in Bohemia.
The party of young Tories who strongly opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws from 1839 to 1846, and favoured a return to the manners and customs of an earlier day. Among its leaders was Lord John Manners.
A party formed in Ireland in 1847, as a rival association to the Repealers who followed O’Connell. Their leaders were Smith O’Brien, Meagher and Mitchel, and they were in favour of physical force rather than of constitutional agitation. An abortive attempt at a rising under their auspices in 1848 was easily suppressed, and the society came to an end immediately afterwards.
A secret society founded by Mazzini about 1830, to work for the emancipation of Italy.
Charles Edward Stuart, son of James Edward, and grandson of James II, was so called by the supporters of the Hanoverian succession.
The Turkish reform party. For obvious reasons they are for the most part resident beyond the limits of the Turkish Empire.
A treaty between Germany and Zanzibar, signed in 1885. The Sultan of Zanzibar thereby recognized Germany’s rights over Chagga and Kilimanjaro, and accorded certain trade facilities to the German East Africa Company.
A community of Free Cossacks on the Dnieper. They were not finally deprived of their independence till the reign of Catherine II, circ. 1780.
SeeTen Jurisdictions.
A body of Cardinals, headed by Cardinal Orsini, who had great influence in Rome circ. 1700, and whose efforts were directed towards stricter discipline in the Church.
Under the Mohammedan rulers of India, the Zemindars were officers who were charged with the collection of taxes over a certain district. In 1793 these officers were, in Bengal, converted by Lord Cornwallis into landowners, each in his own district, who alone paid land-tax to the Government, and recouped themselves by rents received from the peasants or ryots. This system is known as the Zemindari System.
The Russian provincial and district assemblies are so called. The Zemstvo is elected, in certain fixed proportions, by the landowners, the village communes and the municipalities. It meets at least once a year, but has a permanent bureau, always in session, chosen from among its members for executive purposes. It is charged with the maintenance of roads and bridges and other public works, and the supervision of education, sanitation and agriculture. It also elects the local justices of the peace.
A union of the German States for commercial purposes, entered into under the auspices of Prussia in 1833. It provided for free internal trade, and a uniform system of customs duties for the whole union.
An attempt by Calvin and Farel, in 1549, to amalgamate the different doctrines of Calvin and Zwingli. It met with little acceptance on the part of the Protestant Cantons.
A treaty signed in 1859 confirming the Treaty of Villafranca, which provided for the cession by Austria of Lombardy, to be transferred by France to Sardinia.
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