Chapter XVII: Part 17

The second son of Richilde was recognized as count of Hainaut (see HAINAUT), which was thus after a brief union separated from Flanders. Robert died in 1093, and was succeeded by his son Robert II., who acquired great renown by his exploits in the first crusade, and won the name of the Lance and Sword of Christendom. His fame was second only to that of Godfrey of Bouillon. Robert returned to Flanders in 1100. He fought with his suzerain Louis the Fat of France against the English, and was drowned in 1111 by the breaking of a bridge. His son and successor, Baldwin VII., or Baldwin with the Axe, also fought against the English in France. He died at the age of twenty-seven from the wound of an arrow, in 1119, leaving no heir. He nominated as his successor his cousin Charles, son of Knut IV. of Denmark and of Adela, daughter of Robert the Frisian. Charles tried his utmost to put down oppression and to promote the welfare of his subjects, and obtained the surname of "the Good." His determination to enforce the right made him many enemies, and he was foully murdered on Ash Wednesday, 1127, at Bruges. He died childless, and there were no less than six candidates to the countship. The contest lay between two of these, William Clito, son of Robert of Normandy and grandson of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, and Thierry or Dirk of Alsace, whose mother Gertrude was a daughter of Robert the Frisian. William Clito, through the support of Louis of France, was at first accepted by the Flemish nobles as count, but he gave offence to the communes, who supported Thierry. A struggle ensued and William was killed before Alost. Thierry then became count without further opposition. He married the widow of Charles the Good, Marguerite of Clermont, and proved himself at home a wise and prudent prince, encouraging the growth of popular liberty and of commerce. In 1146 he took part in the second crusade and distinguished himself by his exploits. In 1157 he resigned the countship to his son Philip of Alsace and betook himself once more to Jerusalem. On his return from the East twenty years later Thierry retired to a monastery to die in his own land.

Count Philip of Alsace was a strong and able man. He did much to promote the growth of the municipalities for which Flanders was already becoming famous. Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, Lille and Douai under him made much progress as flourishing industrial towns. He also conferred rights and privileges on a number of ports, Hulst, Nieuwport, Sluis, Dunkirk, Axel, Damme, Gravelines and others. But while encouraging the development of the communes and "free towns," Philip sternly repressed any spirit of independence or attempted uprisings against his authority. This count was a powerful prince. He acted for a time as regent in France during the minority of his godson Philip Augustus, and married his ward to his niece Isabella of Hainaut (1180). Philip took part in the third crusade, and died in the camp before Acre of the pestilence in 1191.

As he had no children, the succession passed to Baldwin of Hainaut, who had married Philip's sister Margaret. The countships of Flanders and Hainaut were thus united under the same ruler. Baldwin did not obtain possession of Flanders without strong opposition on the part of the French king, and he was obliged to cede Artois, St Omer, Lens, Hesdin and a great part of southern Flanders to France, and to allow Matilda of Portugal, the widow of Philip of Alsace, to retain certain towns in right of her dowry. Margaret died in 1194 and Baldwin the following year, and their eldest son Baldwin IX. succeeded to both countships. Baldwin IX. is famous in history as the founder of the Latin empire at Constantinople. He perished in Bulgaria in 1206. The emperor's two daughters were both under age, and the government was carried on by their uncle Philip, marquess of Namur, whom Baldwin had appointed regent on his departure to Constantinople. Philip proved faithless to his charge, and he allowed his nieces to fall into the hands of Philip Augustus, who married the elder sister Johanna of Constantinople to his nephew Ferdinand of Portugal. The Flemings were averse to the French king's supremacy, and Ferdinand, who acted as governor in the name of his wife, joined himself to the confederacy formed by Germany, England, and the leading states of the Netherlands against Philip Augustus. Ferdinand was, however, taken prisoner at the disastrous battle of Bouvines (1214) and was kept for twelve years a prisoner in the Louvre. The countess Johanna ruled the united countships with prudence and courage. On Ferdinand's death she married Thomas of Savoy, but died in 1244, leaving no heirs. She was succeeded in her dignities by her younger sister Margaret of Constantinople, commonly known amongst her contemporaries as "Black Meg" (_Zwarte Griet_). Margaret had been twice married. Her first husband was (1212) Buchard of Avesnes, one of the first of Hainaut's nobles and a man of knightly prowess, but originally destined for the church. On this ground he was excommunicated by Innocent III. and imprisoned by the countess Johanna, with the result that Margaret at last was driven to repudiate him. She married in second wedlock (1225) William of Dampierre. Two sons were the issue of the first marriage, three sons and three daughters of the second.

When Margaret in 1244 became countess of Flanders and Hainaut, she wished her son William of Dampierre to be acknowledged as her successor. John of Avesnes, her eldest son, strongly protested against this and was supported by the French king. A civil war ensued, which ended in a compromise (1246), the succession to Flanders being granted to William of Dampierre, that of Hainaut to John of Avesnes. Margaret, however, ruled with a strong hand for many years and survived both her sons, dying at the age of eighty in 1280. On her death her grandson, John II. of Avesnes, became count of Hainaut: Guy of Dampierre, her second son by her second marriage, count of Flanders.

The two counties were once more under separate dynasties. The government of Guy of Dampierre was unfortunate. It was the interest of the Flemish weavers to be on good terms with England, the wool-producing country, and Guy entered into an alliance with Edward I. against France. This led to an invasion and conquest of Flanders by Philip the Fair. Guy with his sons and the leading Flemish nobles were taken prisoners to Paris, and Flanders was ruled as a French dependency. But though in the principal towns, Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, there was a powerful French faction--known as _Leliaerts_ (adherents of the lily)--the arbitrary rule of the French governor and officials stirred up the mass of the Flemish people to rebellion. The anti-French partisans (known as _Clauwaerts_) were strongest at Bruges under the leadership of Peter de Conync, master of the cloth-weavers, and John Breydel, master of the butchers. The French garrison at Bruges were massacred (May 19th, 1302), and on the following 11th of July a splendid French army of invasion was utterly defeated near Courtray. Peace was concluded in 1305, but owing to Guy of Dampierre, and the leading Flemish nobles being in the hands of the French king, on terms very disadvantageous to Flanders. Very shortly afterwards the aged count Guy died, as did also Philip the Fair. Robert of Bethune, his son and successor, had continual difficulties with France during the whole of his reign, the Flemings offering a stubborn resistance to all attempts to destroy their independence. Robert was succeeded in 1322 by his grandson Louis of Nevers. Louis had been brought up at the French court, and had married Margaret of France. His sympathies were entirely French, and he made use of French help in his contests with the communes.

Under Louis of Nevers Flanders was practically reduced to the status of a French province. In his time the long contest between Flanders and Holland for the possession of the island of Zeeland was brought to an end by a treaty signed on the 6th of March 1323, by which West Zeeland was assigned to the count of Holland, the rest to the count of Flanders. The latter part of the reign of Louis of Nevers was remarkable for the successful revolt of the Flemish communes, now rapidly advancing to great material prosperity under Jacob van Artevelde (see ARTEVELDE, JACOB VAN). Artevelde allied himself with Edward III. of England in his contest with Philip of Valois for the French crown, while Louis of Nevers espoused the cause of Philip. He fell at the battle of Crecy (1346). He was followed in the countship by his son Louis II. of Male. The reign of this count was one long struggle with the communes, headed by the town of Ghent, for political supremacy. Louis was as strong in his French sympathies as his father, and relied upon French help in enforcing his will upon his refractory subjects, who resented his arbitrary methods of government, and the heavy taxation imposed upon them by his extravagance and love of display. Had the great towns with their organized gilds and great wealth held together in their opposition to the count's despotism, they would have proved successful, but Ghent and Bruges, always keen rivals, broke out into open feud. The power of Ghent reached its height under Philip van Artevelde (see ARTEVELDE, PHILIP VAN) in 1382. He defeated Louis, took Bruges and was made _ruward_ of Flanders. But the triumph of the White Hoods, as the popular party was called, was of short duration. On the 27th of November 1382 Artevelde suffered a crushing defeat from a large French army at Roosebeke and was himself slain. Louis of Male died two years later, leaving an only daughter Margaret, who had married in 1369 Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy.

Flanders now became a portion of the great Burgundian domain, which in the reign of Philip the Good, Margaret's grandson, had absorbed almost the whole of the Netherlands (see BURGUNDY; NETHERLANDS). The history of Flanders as a separate state ceases from the time of the acquisition of the countship by the Burgundian dynasty. There were revolts from time to time of great towns against the exactions even of these powerful princes, but they were in vain. The conquest and humiliation of Bruges by Philip the Good in 1440, and the even more relentless punishment inflicted on rebellious Ghent by the emperor Charles V. exactly a century later are the most remarkable incidents in the long-continued but vain struggle of the Flemish communes to maintain and assert their privileges. The Burgundian dukes and their successors of the house of Habsburg were fully alive to the value to them of Flanders and its rich commercial cities. It was Flanders that furnished to them no small part of their resources, but for this very reason, while fostering the development of Flemish industry and trade, they were the more determined to brook no opposition which sought to place restrictions upon their authority.

The effect of the revolt of the Netherlands and the War of Dutch Independence which followed was ruinous to Flanders. Albert and Isabel on their accession to the sovereignty of the southern Netherlands in 1599 found "the great cities of Flanders and Brabant had been abandoned by a large part of their inhabitants; agriculture hardly in a less degree than commerce and industry had been ruined." In 1633 with the death of Isabel, Flanders reverted to Spanish rule (1633). By the treaty of Munster the north-western portion of Flanders, since known as States (or Dutch) Flanders, was ceded by Philip IV. to the United Provinces (1648). By a succession of later treaties--of the Pyrenees (1659), Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), Nijmwegen (1679) and others--a large slice of the southern portion of the old county of Flanders became French territory and was known as French Flanders.

From 1795 to 1814 Flanders, with the rest of the Belgic provinces, was incorporated in France, and was divided into two departments--_departement de l'Escaut_ and _departement de la Lys_. This division has since been retained, and is represented by the two provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders in the modern kingdom of Belgium. The title of count of Flanders was revived by Leopold I. in 1840 in favour of his second son, Philip Eugene Ferdinand (d. 1905). (G. E.)

FLANDRIN, JEAN HIPPOLYTE (1809-1864), French painter, was born at Lyons in 1809. His father, though brought up to business, had great fondness for art, and sought himself to follow an artist's career. Lack of early training, however, disabled him for success, and he was obliged to take up the precarious occupation of a miniature painter. Hippolyte was the second of three sons, all painters, and two of them eminent, the third son Paul (b. 1811) ranking as one of the leaders of the modern landscape school of France. Auguste (1804-1842), the eldest, passed the greater part of his life as professor at Lyons, where he died. After studying for some time at Lyons, Hippolyte and Paul, who had long determined on the step and economized for it, set out to walk to Paris in 1829, to place themselves under the tuition of Hersent. They chose finally to enter the atelier of Ingres, who became not only their instructor but their friend for life. At first considerably hampered by poverty, Hippolyte's difficulties were for ever removed by his taking, in 1832, the Grand Prix de Rome, awarded for his picture of the "Recognition of Theseus by his Father." This allowed him to study five years at Rome, whence he sent home several pictures which considerably raised his fame. "St Clair healing the Blind" was done for the cathedral of Nantes, and years after, at the exhibition of 1855, brought him a medal of the first class. "Jesus and the Little Children" was given by the government to the town of Lisieux. "Dante and Virgil visiting the Envious Men struck with Blindness," and "Euripides writing his Tragedies," belong to the museum at Lyons. Returning to Paris through Lyons in 1838 he soon received a commission to ornament the chapel of St John in the church of St Severin at Paris, and reputation increased and employment continued abundant for the rest of his life. Besides the pictures mentioned above, and others of a similar kind, he painted a great number of portraits. The works, however, upon which his fame most surely rests are his monumental decorative paintings. Of these the principal are those executed in the following churches:--in the sanctuary of St Germain des Pres at Paris (1842-1844), in the choir of the same church (1846-1848), in the church of St Paul at Nismes (1848-1849), of St Vincent de Paul at Paris (1850-1854), in the church of Ainay at Lyons (1855), in the nave of St Germain des Pres (1855-1861). In 1856 Hippolyte Flandrin was elected to the Academie des Beaux-Arts. In 1863 his failing health, rendered worse by incessant toil and exposure to the damp and draughts of churches, induced him again to visit Italy. He died of smallpox at Rome on the 21st of March 1864. As might naturally be expected in one who looked upon painting as but the vehicle for the expression of spiritual sentiment, he had perhaps too little pride in the technical qualities of his art. There is shown in his works much of that austerity and coldness, expressed in form and colour, which springs from a faith which feels itself in opposition to the tendencies of surrounding life. He has been compared to Fra Angelico; but the faces of his long processions of saints and martyrs seem to express rather the austerity of souls convicted of sin than the joy and purity of never-corrupted life which shines from the work of the early master.

See Delaborde, _Lettres et pensees de H. Flandrin_ (Paris, 1865);
Beule, _Notice historique sur H. F._ (1869).

FLANNEL, a woollen stuff of various degrees of weight and fineness, made usually from loosely spun yarn. The origin of the word is uncertain, but in the 16th century flannel was a well-known production of Wales, and a Welsh origin has been suggested. The French form _flanelle_ was used late in the 17th century, and the Ger. _Flanell_ early in the 18th century. Baize, a kind of coarse flannel with a long nap, is said to have been first introduced to England about the middle of the 16th century by refugees from France and the Netherlands. The manufacture of flannel has naturally undergone changes, and, in some cases, deteriorations. Flannels are frequently made with an admixture of silk or cotton, and in low varieties cotton has tended to become the predominant factor. Formerly a short staple wool of fine quality from a Southdown variety of the Sussex breed was principally in favour with the flannel manufacturers of Rochdale, who also used largely the wool from the Norfolk breed, a cross between the Southdown and Norfolk sheep. In Wales the short staple wool of the mountain sheep was used, and in Ireland that of the Wicklow variety of the Cottagh breed, but now the New Zealand, Cape and South American wools are extensively employed, and English wools are not commonly used alone. Over 2000 persons are employed in flannel manufacture in Rochdale alone, which is the historic seat of the industry, and a good deal of flannel is now made in the Spen Valley district, Yorkshire. Blankets, which constitute a special branch of the flannel trade, are largely made at Bury in Lancashire and Dewsbury in Yorkshire. Welsh flannels have a high reputation, and make an important industry in Montgomeryshire. There are also flannel manufactories in Ireland.

A moderate export trade in flannel is done by Great Britain. The following table gives the quantities exported during three years:--

1904. 1905. 1906.
Yards 9,758,300 9,220,500 8,762,200

In 1877 the export was 9,273,429 yds., so it appears that this trade has varied comparatively little. The imports of flannel are not very large.

Many so-called flannels have been made with a large admixture of cotton, but the Merchandise Marks Act has done something to limit the indiscriminate use of names. Unquestionably the development of the flannel trade has been checked by the great increase in the production of flannelettes, the better qualities of which have become formidable competitors with flannel. There must, however, be a regular and large demand for flannel while theory and experience confirm its value as a clothing particularly suitable for immediate contact with the body.

FLANNELETTE, a cotton cloth made to imitate flannel. The word seems to have been first used in the early 'eighties, and there is a reference in the _Daily News_ of 1887 to "a poverty-stricken article called flannelette." Now it is used very extensively for underclothing, night gear, dresses, dressing-gowns, shirts, &c. It is usually made with a much coarser weft than warp, and its flannel-like appearance is obtained by the raising or scratching up of this weft, and by various finishing processes. Some kinds are raised equally on both sides, and the nap may be long or short according to the purpose for which the cloth is required. A considerable trade is done in plain cloths dyed, and also in woven coloured stripes and checks, but almost any heavy or coarse cotton cloth can be made into flannelette. It is now largely used by the poorer classes of the community, and the flimsier kinds have been a frequent source of accident by fire. It is, however, when used discreetly and in a fair quality, a cheap and useful article. A flannelette, patented under the title of "Non-flam," has been made with fire-resisting properties, but its sale has been more in the better qualities than in the lower and more dangerous ones. Flannelette is made largely on the continent of Europe, and in the United States as well as in Great Britain.

FLASK, in its earliest meaning in Old English a vessel for carrying liquor, made of wood or leather. The principal applications in current usage are (1) to a vessel of metal or wood, formerly of horn, used for carrying gunpowder; (2) to a long-necked, round-bodied glass vessel, usually covered with plaited straw or maize leaves, containing olive or other oil or Italian wines--it is often known as a "Florence flask": similarly shaped vessels are used for experiments, &c., in a laboratory; (3) to a small metal or glass receptacle for spirits, wine or other liquor, of a size and shape to fit into a pocket or holster, usually covered with leather, basket-work or other protecting substance, and with a detachable portion of the case shaped to form a cup. "Flask" is also used in metal-founding of a wooden frame or case to contain part of the mould. The word "flagon," which is by derivation a doublet of "flask," is usually applied to a larger type of vessel for holding liquor, more particularly to a type of wine-bottle with a short neck and circular body with flattened sides. The word is also used of a jug-shaped vessel with a handle, spout and lid, into which wine may be decanted from the bottle for use at table, and of a similarly shaped vessel to contain the Eucharistic wine till it is poured into the chalice. "Flask" (in O. Eng. _flasce_ or _flaxe_) is represented both in Teutonic and Romanic languages. The earliest examples are found in Med. Lat. _flasco_, _flasconis_, whence come Ital. _fiascone_, O. Fr. _flascon_ (mod. _flacon_), adapted in the Eng. "flagon." Another Lat. form is _flasca_, this gave a Fr. _flasque_, which in the sense of "powder flask" remained in use till later than the 16th century. In Teutonic languages the word, in its various forms, is the common one for "bottle," so in Ger. _Flasche_, Dutch _flesch_, &c. If the word is of Romanic origin it is probably a metathesized form of the Lat. _vasculum_, diminutive of _vas_, vessel. There is no very satisfactory etymology if the word is of Teutonic origin; the New English Dictionary considers a connexion with "flat" probable phonetically, but finds no evidence that the word was used originally for a flat-shaped vessel.

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. _flet_, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet), a term commonly used as an adjective, signifying level in surface, level with the ground, and so, figuratively, fallen, dead, inanimate, tasteless, dull; or, by another transference, downright; or, in music, below the true pitch. In a substantival form, the term is used in physical geography for a level tract.

The word is also generally applied by modern usage to a self-contained residence or separate dwelling (in Scots law, the term _flatted house_ is still used), consisting of a suite of rooms which form a portion, usually on a single floor, of a larger building, called the tenement house, the remainder being similarly divided. The approach to it is over a hall, passage and stairway, which are common to all residents in the building, but from which each private flat is divided off by its own outer door (Clode, _Tenement Houses and Flats_, pp. 1, 2).

There is in England a considerable body of special law applicable to flats. The following points deserve notice:--(i.) The occupants of distinct suites of rooms in a building divided into flats are generally, and subject, of course, to any special terms in their agreements, not lodgers but tenants with exclusive possession of separate dwelling-houses placed one above the other. They are, therefore, liable to distress by the immediate landlord, and each flat is separately rateable, though as a general rule by the contract of tenancy the rates are payable by the landlord. Flats used solely for business purposes are exempt from house tax, by the Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1878 (see _Grant_, v. _Langston_, 1900, A.C. 383); and, by the Revenue Act 1903 (s. 11), provision is made for excluding from assessment or for assessing at a low rate buildings used for providing separate dwellings at rents not exceeding L60 a year. It appears that tenants of a flat would not come within the meaning of "lodger" for the purposes of the Lodgers' Goods Protection Act 1871. (ii.) The owner of an upper storey, without any express grant or enjoyment for any given time, has a right to the support of the lower storey (_Dalton_ v. _Angus_, 1881, 6 A.C. 740, 793). The owner of the lower storey, however, so long as he does nothing actively in the way of withdrawing its support, is not bound to repair, in the absence of a special covenant imposing that obligation upon him. The right of support being an easement in favour of the owner of the upper storey, it is for him to repair. He is in law entitled to enter on the lower storey for the purpose of doing the necessary repairs. It appears, however, that there is an implied obligation by the landlord to the tenants to keep the common stair and the lift or elevator in repair, and, for breach of this duty, he will be liable to a third party who, while visiting a tenant in the course of business, is injured by its defective condition (_Miller_ v. _Hancock_, 1893, 2 Q.B. 177). No such liability would be involved in a mere licence to the tenants to use a part of the building not essential to the enjoyment of their flats. (iii.) In case of the destruction of the flat by fire, the rent abates _pro tanto_ and an apportionment is made; _pari ratione_, where a flat is totally destroyed, the rent abates altogether (Clode, p. 14); unless the tenant has entered into an express and unqualified agreement to pay rent, when he will remain liable till the expiration of his tenancy. (iv.) Where the agreements for letting the flats in a single building are in common form, an agreement by the lessor not to depart from the kind of building there indicated may be held to be implied. Thus an injunction has been granted to restrain the conversion into a club of a large part of a building, adapted to occupation in residential flats, at the instance of a tenant who held under an agreement in a common form binding the tenants to rules suitable only for residential purposes (_Hudson_ v. _Cripps_, 1896, 1 Ch. 265). (v.) The porter is usually appointed and paid by the landlord, who is liable for his acts while engaged on his general duties; while engaged on any special duty for any tenant the porter is the servant of the latter, who is liable for his conduct within the scope of his employment.

In Scots law the rights and obligations of the lessors and lessees of flats, or--as they are called--"flatted houses," spring partly from the exclusive possession by each lessee of his own flat, partly from the common interest of all in the tenement as a whole. The "law of the tenement" may be thus summed up. The _solum_ on which the flatted house stands, the area in front and the back ground are presumed to belong to the owner of the lowest floor or the owners of each floor severally, subject to the common right of the other proprietors to prevent injury to their flats, especially by depriving them of light. The external walls belong to each owner in so far as they enclose his flat; but the other owners can prevent operations on them which would endanger the security of the building. The roof and uppermost storey belong to the highest owner or owners, but he or they may be compelled to keep them in repair and to refrain from injuring them. The gables are common to the owner of each flat, so far as they bound his property, and to the owner of the adjoining house; but he and the other owners in the building have cross rights of common interest to prevent injury to the stability of the building. The floor and ceiling of each flat are divided in ownership by an ideal line drawn through the middle of the joists; they may be used for ordinary purposes, but may not be weakened or exposed to unusual risk from fire. The common passages and stairs are the common property of all to whose premises they form an access, and the walls which bound them are the common property of those persons and of the owners on their farther side.

In the United States the term "apartment-house" is applied to what in England are called flats. The general law is the same as in England. The French Code Civil provides (Art. 664) that where the different storeys of a house belong to different owners the main walls and roof are at the charge of all the owners, each one in proportion to the value of the storey belonging to him. The proprietor of each storey is responsible for his own flooring. The proprietor of the first storey makes the staircase which leads to it, the proprietor of the second, beginning from where the former ended, makes the staircase leading to his and so on. There are similar provisions in the Civil Codes of Belgium (Art. 664), Quebec (Art. 521), St Lucia (Art. 471).

AUTHORITIES.--ENGLISH LAW: Clode, _Law of Tenement-Houses and Flats_
(London, 1889); Daniels, _Manual of the Law of Flats_ (London, 1905).
SCOTS LAW: Erskine, _Principles of the Law of Scotland_ (20th ed.,
Edinburgh, 1903); Bell, _Principles of the Law of Scotland_ (10th ed.,
Edinburgh, 1899). AMERICAN LAW: Bouvier, _Law Dicty._ (Boston and
London, 1897). FOREIGN LAWS: Burge, _Foreign and Colonial Laws_ (2nd
ed., London, 1906). (A. W. R.)

FLATBUSH, formerly a township of Kings county, Long Island, New York, U.S.A., annexed to Brooklyn in 1894, and after the 1st of January 1898 a part of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. The first settlement was made here by the Dutch about 1651, and was variously called "Midwout," "Midwoud" and "Medwoud" (from the Dutch words, _med_, "middle" and _woud_, "wood") for about twenty years, when it became more commonly known as Vlachte Bos (_vlachte_, "wooded"; _bos_, "plain") or Flackebos, whence, by further corruption, the present name. Farming was the chief occupation of the early settlers. On the 23rd of August 1776 the village was occupied by General Cornwallis's division of the invading force under Lord Howe, and on the 27th, at the disastrous battle of Long Island (or "battle of Flatbush," as it is sometimes called), "Flatbush Pass," an important strategic point, was vigorously defended by General Sullivan's troops.

FLAT-FISH (_Pleuronectidae_), the name common to all those fishes which swim on their side, as the halibut, turbot, brill, plaice, flounder, sole, &c. The side which is turned towards the bottom, and in some kinds is the right, in others the left, is generally colourless, and called "blind," from the absence of an eye on this side. The opposite side, which is turned upwards and towards the light, is variously, and in some tropical species even vividly, coloured, both eyes being placed on this side of the head. All the bones and muscles of the upper side are more strongly developed than on the lower; but it is noteworthy that these fishes when hatched, and for a short time afterwards, are symmetrical like other fishes.

Assuming that they are the descendants of symmetrical fishes, the question has been to determine which group of Teleosteans may be regarded as the ancestors of the flat-fishes. The old notion that they are only modified Gadids (Anacanthini) was the result of the artificial classification of the past and is now generally abandoned. The condition of the caudal fin, which in the cod tribe departs so markedly from that of ordinary Teleosteans, is in itself a sufficient reason for dismissing the idea of the homocercal flat-fishes being derived from the Anacanthini, and the whole structure of the two types of fishes speaks against such an assumption. On the other hand it has been shown, as noticed in the article DORY, that considerable, deep-seated resemblances exist between the Zeidae or John Dories and the more generalized of the Pleuronectidae; and that a fossil fish from the Upper Eocene, _Amphistium paradoxum_, evidently allied to the Zeidae, appears to realize in every respect the prototype of the Pleuronectidae before they had assumed the asymmetry which characterizes them as a group. In accordance with these views the flat-fishes are placed by G.A. Boulenger in the suborder Acanthopterygii, in a division called _Zeorhombi_. The three families included in that division can be traced back to the Upper Eocene, and their common ancestors will probably be found in the Upper Cretaceous associated with the _Berycidae_, to which they will no doubt prove to be related. The very young are transparent and symmetrical, with an eye on each side, and swim in a vertical position. As they grow, the eye of one side moves by degrees to the other side, where it becomes the upper eye. If at that age the dorsal fin does not extend to the frontal region, the migrating eye simply moves over the line of the profile, temporarily assuming the position which it preserves in some of the less modified genera, such as _Psettodes_; in other genera, the dorsal fin has already extended to the snout before the migration takes place, and the eye, passing between the frontal bone and the tissues supporting the fin, appears to make its way from side to side through the head, as was believed by some of the earlier observers.

About 500 species of flat-fish are known, mostly marine, a few species allied to the sole being confined to the fresh waters of South America, West Africa, and the Malay Archipelago, whilst a few others, such as the English flounder, ascend streams, though still breeding in the sea. They range from the Arctic Circle to the southern coasts of the southern hemisphere and may occur at great depths. (G. A. B.)

FLATHEADS, a tribe of North American Indians of Salishan stock. They formerly occupied the mountains of north-western Montana and the country around. They have always been friendly to the whites. Curiously enough they have not the custom, so general among American tribes, of flattening the heads of their infants. Father P.J. de Smet in 1841 founded among them a mission which proved the most successful in the north-west. With the Pend d'Oreille tribe and some Kutenais they are on a reservation in Montana, and number a few hundreds.

FLAUBERT, GUSTAVE (1821-1880), French novelist, was born at Rouen on the 12th of December 1821. His father, of whom many traits are reproduced in Flaubert's character of Charles Bovary, was a surgeon in practice at Rouen; his mother was connected with some of the oldest Norman families. He was educated in his native city, and did not leave it until 1840, when he came up to Paris to study law. He is said to have been idle at school, but to have been occupied with literature from the age of eleven. Flaubert in his youth "was like a young Greek," full of vigour of body and a certain shy grace, enthusiastic, intensely individual, and apparently without any species of ambition. He loved the country, and Paris was extremely distasteful to him. He made the acquaintance of Victor Hugo, and towards the close of 1840 he travelled in the Pyrenees and Corsica. Returning to Paris, he wasted his time in sombre dreams, living on his patrimony. In 1846, his mother being left quite alone through the deaths of his father and his sister Caroline, Flaubert gladly abandoned Paris and the study of the law together, to make a home for her at Croisset, close to Rouen. This estate, a house in a pleasant piece of ground which ran down to the Seine, became Flaubert's home for the remainder of his life. From 1846 to 1854 he carried on relations with the poetess, Mlle Louise Colet; their letters have been preserved, and according to M. Emile Faguet, this was the only sentimental episode of any importance in the life of Flaubert, who never married. His principal friend at this time was Maxime du Camp, with whom he travelled in Brittany in 1846, and through the East in 1849. Greece and Egypt made a profound impression upon the imagination of Flaubert. From this time forth, save for occasional visits to Paris, he did not stir from Croisset.

On returning from the East, in 1850, he set about the composition of _Madame Bovary_. He had hitherto scarcely written anything, and had published nothing. The famous novel took him six years to prepare, but was at length submitted to the _Revue de Paris_, where it appeared in serial form in 1857. The government brought an action against the publisher and against the author, on the charge of immorality, but both were acquitted; and when _Madame Bovary_ appeared in book-form it met with a very warm reception. Flaubert paid a visit to Carthage in 1858, and now settled down to the archaeological studies which were required to equip him for _Salammbo_, which, however, in spite of the author's ceaseless labours, was not finished until 1862. He then took up again the study of contemporary manners, and, making use of many recollections of his youth and childhood, wrote _L'Education sentimentale_, the composition of which occupied him seven years; it was published in 1869. Up to this time the sequestered and laborious life of Flaubert had been comparatively happy, but misfortunes began to gather around him. He felt the anguish of the war of 1870 so keenly that the break-up of his health has been attributed to it; he began to suffer greatly from a distressing nervous malady. His best friends were taken from him by death or by fatal misunderstanding; in 1872 he lost his mother, and his circumstances became greatly reduced. He was very tenderly guarded by his niece, Mme Commonville; he enjoyed a rare intimacy of friendship with George Sand, with whom he carried on a correspondence of immense artistic interest, and occasionally he saw his Parisian acquaintances, Zola, A. Daudet, Tourgenieff, the Goncourts; but nothing prevented the close of Flaubert's life from being desolate and melancholy. He did not cease, however, to work with the same intensity and thoroughness. _La Tentation de Saint-Antoine_, of which fragments had been published as early as 1857, was at length completed and sent to press in 1874. In that year he was subjected to a disappointment by the failure of his drama _Le Candidat_. In 1877 Flaubert published, in one volume, entitled _Trois contes, Un Coeur simple, La Legende de Saint-Julien-l'Hospitalier and Herodias_. After this something of his judgment certainly deserted him; he spent the remainder of his life in the toil of building up a vast satire on the futility of human knowledge and the omnipresence of mediocrity, which he left a fragment. This is the depressing and bewildering _Bouvard et Pecuchet_ (posthumously printed, 1881), which, by a curious irony, he believed to be his masterpiece. Flaubert had rapidly and prematurely aged since 1870, and he was quite an old man when he was carried off by a stroke of apoplexy at the age of only 58, on the 8th of May 1880. He died at Croisset, but was buried in the family vault in the cemetery of Rouen. A beautiful monument to him by Chapu was unveiled at the museum of Rouen in 1890.

The personal character of Flaubert offered various peculiarities. He was shy, and yet extremely sensitive and arrogant; he passed from silence to an indignant and noisy flow of language. The same inconsistencies marked his physical nature; he had the build of a guardsman, with a magnificent Viking head, but his health was uncertain from childhood, and he was neurotic to the last degree. This ruddy giant was secretly gnawn by misanthropy and disgust of life. His hatred of the "bourgeois" began in his childhood, and developed into a kind of monomania. He despised his fellow-men, their habits, their lack of intelligence, their contempt for beauty, with a passionate scorn which has been compared to that of an ascetic monk. Flaubert's curious modes of composition favoured and were emphasized by these peculiarities. He worked in sullen solitude, sometimes occupying a week in the completion of one page, never satisfied with what he had composed, violently tormenting his brain for the best turn of a phrase, the most absolutely final adjective. It cannot be said that his incessant labours were not rewarded. His private letters show that he was not one of those to whom easy and correct language is naturally given; he gained his extraordinary perfection with the unceasing sweat of his brow. One of the most severe of academic critics admits that "in all his works, and in every page of his works, Flaubert may be considered a model of style." That he was one of the greatest writers who ever lived in France is now commonly admitted, and his greatness principally depends upon the extraordinary vigour and exactitude of his style. Less perhaps than any other writer, not of France, but of modern Europe, Flaubert yields admission to the inexact, the abstract, the vaguely inapt expression which is the bane of ordinary methods of composition. He never allowed a _cliche_ to pass him, never indulgently or wearily went on, leaving behind him a phrase which "almost" expressed his meaning. Being, as he is, a mixture in almost equal parts of the romanticist and the realist, the marvellous propriety of his style has been helpful to later writers of both schools, of every school. The absolute exactitude with which he adapts his expression to his purpose is seen in all parts of his work, but particularly in the portraits he draws of the figures in his principal romances. The degree and manner in which, since his death, the fame of Flaubert has extended, form an interesting chapter of literary history. The publication of _Madame Bovary_ in 1857 had been followed by more scandal than admiration; it was not understood at first that this novel was the beginning of a new thing, the scrupulously truthful portraiture of life. Gradually this aspect of his genius was accepted, and began to crowd out all others. At the time of his death he was famous as a realist, pure and simple. Under this aspect Flaubert exercised an extraordinary influence over E. de Goncourt, Alphonse Daudet and M. Zola. But even since the decline of the realistic school Flaubert has not lost prestige; other facets of his genius have caught the light. It has been perceived that he was not merely realistic, but real; that his clairvoyance was almost boundless; that he saw certain phenomena more clearly than the best of observers had done. Flaubert is a writer who must always appeal more to other authors than to the world at large, because the art of writing, the indefatigable pursuit of perfect expression, were always before him, and because he hated the lax felicities of improvization as a disloyalty to the most sacred procedures of the literary artist.

His _Oeuvres completes_ (8 vols., 1885) were printed from the original
manuscripts, and included, besides the works mentioned already, the
two plays, _Le Candidat_ and _Le Chateau des coeurs_. Another edition
(10 vols.) appeared in 1873-1885. Flaubert's correspondence with
George Sand was published in 1884 with an introduction by Guy de
Maupassant. Other posthumous works are _Par les champs et par les
greves_ (1885), the result of a tour in Brittany; and four volumes of
_Correspondance_ (1887-1893). See also Paul Bourget, _Essais de
psychologie contemporaine_ (1883); Emile Faguet, _Flaubert_ (1899);
Henry James, _French Poets and Novelists_ (1878); Emile Zola, _Les
Romanciers naturalistes_ (1881); C.A. Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du
lundi_, vol. xiii., _Nouveaux lundis_, vol. iv.; and the _Souvenirs
litteraires_ (2 vols., 1882-1883) of Maxime du Camp. (E. G.)

FLAVEL, JOHN (c. 1627-1691), English Presbyterian divine, was born at Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, probably in 1627. He was the elder son of Richard Flavel, described in contemporary records as "a painful and eminent minister." After receiving his early education, partly at home and partly at the grammar-schools of Bromsgrove and Haslar, he entered University College, Oxford. Soon after taking orders in 1650 he obtained a curacy at Diptford, Devon, and on the death of the vicar he was appointed to succeed him. From Diptford he removed in 1656 to Dartmouth. He was ejected from his living by the passing of the Act of Uniformity in 1662, but continued to preach and administer the sacraments privately till the Five Mile Act of 1665, when he retired to Slapton, 5 m. away. He then lived for a time in London, but returned to Dartmouth, where he laboured till his death in 1691. He was married four times. He was a vigorous and voluminous writer, and not without a play of fine fancy.

His principal works are his _Navigation Spiritualized_ (1671); _The
Fountain of Life, in forty-two Sermons_ (1672); _The Method of Grace_
(1680); _Pneumatologia, a Treatise on the Soul of Man_ (1698); _A
Token for Mourners_; _Husbandry Spiritualized_ (1699). Collected
editions appeared throughout the 18th century, and in 1823 Charles
Bradley edited a 2 vol. selection.

FLAVIAN I. (d. 404), bishop or patriarch of Antioch, was born about 320, most probably in Antioch. He inherited great wealth, but resolved to devote his riches and his talents to the service of the church. In association with Diodorus, afterwards bishop of Tarsus, he supported the Catholic faith against the Arian Leontius, who had succeeded Eustathius as bishop of Antioch. The two friends assembled their adherents outside the city walls for the observance of the exercises of religion; and, according to Theodoret, it was in these meetings that the practice of antiphonal singing was first introduced in the services of the church. When Meletius was appointed bishop of Antioch in 361 he raised Flavian to the priesthood, and on the death of Meletius in 381 Flavian was chosen to succeed him. The schism between the two parties was, however, far from being healed; the bishop of Rome and the bishops of Egypt refused to acknowledge Flavian, and Paulinus, who by the extreme Eustathians had been elected bishop in opposition to Meletius, still exercised authority over a portion of the church. On the death of Paulinus in 383, Evagrius was chosen as his successor, but after the death of Evagrius (c. 393) Flavian succeeded in preventing his receiving a successor, though the Eustathians still continued to hold separate meetings. Through the intervention of Chrysostom, soon after his elevation to the patriarchate of Constantinople (398), and the influence of the emperor Theodosius, Flavian was acknowledged in 399 as legitimate bishop of Antioch by the Church of Rome; but the Eustathian schism was not finally healed till 415. Flavian, who died in February 404, is venerated in both the Western and Eastern churches as a saint.

See also the article Meletius of Antioch, and the article "Flavianus
von Antiochien" by Loofs in Herzog-Hauck's _Real-encyklop._ (ed. 3).
For the Meletian schism see also A. Harnack's, _Hist. of Dogma_, iv.
95.

FLAVIAN II. (d. 518), bishop or patriarch of Antioch, was chosen by the emperor Anastasius I. to succeed Palladius, most probably in 498. He endeavoured to please both parties by steering a middle course in reference to the Chalcedon (q.v.) decrees, but was induced after great hesitation to agree to the request of Anastasius that he should accept the Henoticon, or decree of union, issued by the emperor Zeno. His doing so, while it brought upon him the anathema of the patriarch of Constantinople, failed to secure the favour of Anastasius, who in 511 found in the riots which were occurring between the rival parties in the streets of Antioch a pretext for deposing Flavian, and banishing him to Petra, where he died in 518. Flavian was soon after his death enrolled among the saints of the Greek Church, and after some opposition he was also canonized by the Latin Church.

FLAVIAN (d. 449), bishop of Constantinople, and an adherent of the Antiochene school, succeeded Proclus in 447. He presided at the council which deposed Eutyches (q.v.) in 448, but in the following year he was deposed by the council of Ephesus (the "robber synod"), which reinstated Eutyches in his office. Flavian's death shortly afterwards was attributed, by a pious fiction, to ill treatment at the hands of his theological opponents. The council of Chalcedon canonized him as a martyr, and in the Latin Church he is commemorated on the 18th of February.

FLAVIGNY, a town of eastern France, in the department of Cote-d'Or, situated on a promontory overlooking the river Ozerain, 33 m. W.N.W. of Dijon by road. Pop. (1906) 725. Among its antiquities are the remains of an abbey of the 8th century, which has been rebuilt as a factory for the manufacture of anise, an industry connected with the town as early as the 17th century. There is also a church of the 13th and 15th centuries, containing carved stalls (15th century) and a fine rood-screen (early 16th century). A Dominican convent, some old houses and ancient gateways are also of interest. About 3 m. north-west of Flavigny rises Mont Auxois, the probable site of the ancient Alesia, where Caesar in A.D. 52 defeated the Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix, to whom a statue has been erected on the summit of the height. Numerous remains of the Gallo-Roman period have been discovered on the hill.

FLAVIN (Lat. _flavus_, yellow), the commercial name for an extract or preparation of quercitron bark (_Quercus tinctoria_), which is used as a yellow dye in place of the ground and powdered bark (see QUERCITRON).

FLAX. The terms flax or lint (Ger. _Flachs_, Fr. _lin_, Lat. _linum_) are employed at once to denote the fibre so called, and the plant from which it is prepared. The flax plant (_Linum usitatissimum_) belongs to the natural order _Linaceae_, and, like most plants which have been long under cultivation, it possesses numerous varieties, while its origin is doubtful. As cultivated it is an annual with an erect stalk rising to a height of from 20 to 40 in., with alternate, sessile, narrowly lance-shaped leaves, branching only at the top, each branch or branchlet ending in a bright blue flower. The flowers are regular and symmetrical, having five sepals, tapering to a point and hairy on the margin, five petals which speedily fall, ten stamens, and a pistil bearing five distinct styles. The fruit or boll is round, containing five cells, each of which is again divided into two, thus forming ten divisions, each of which contains a single seed. The seeds of the flax plant, well known as linseed, are heavy, smooth, glossy and of a bright greenish-brown colour. They are oval in section, but their maximum contour represents closely that of a pear with the stalk removed. The contents are of an oily nature, and when liquefied are of great commercial value.

The earliest cultivated flax was _Linum angustifolium_, a smaller plant with fewer and narrower leaves than _L. usitatissimum_, and usually perennial. This is known to have been cultivated by the inhabitants of the Swiss lake-dwellings, and is found wild in south and west Europe (including England), North Africa, and western Asia. The annual flax (_L. usitatissimum_) has been cultivated for at least four or five thousand years in Mesopotamia, Assyria and Egypt, and is wild in the districts included between the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. This annual flax appears to have been introduced into the north of Europe by the Finns, afterwards into the west of Europe by the western Aryans, and perhaps here and there by the Phoenicians; lastly, into Hindustan by the eastern Aryans after their separation from the European Aryans. (De Candolle, _Origin of Cultivated Plants_.)

The cultivation and preparation of flax are among the most ancient of all textile industries, very distinct traces of their existence during the stone age being preserved to the present day. "The use of flax," says Ferdinand Keller (_Lake Dwellings of Switzerland_, translated by J.E. Lee), "reaches back to the very earliest periods of civilization, and it was most extensively and variously applied in the lake-dwellings, even in those of the stone period. But of the mode in which it was planted, steeped, heckled, cleansed and generally prepared for use, we can form no idea any more than we can of the mode or tools employed by the settlers in its cultivation.... Rough or unworked flax is found in the lake-dwellings made into bundles, or what are technically called heads, and, as much attention was given to this last operation, it was perfectly clean and ready for use." As to its applications at this early period, Keller remarks: "Flax was the material for making lines and nets for fishing and catching wild animals, cords for carrying the earthenware vessels and other heavy objects; in fact, one can hardly imagine how navigation could be carried on, or the lake-dwellings themselves be erected, without the use of ropes and cords; and the erection of memorial stones (menhirs, dolmens), at whichever era, and to whatever people these monuments may belong, would be altogether impracticable without the use of strong ropes."