Chapter 3: , page 89 (40)

From King Louis IX. (St. Louis), of France, "through his last
male child, Robert de France, Comte de Clermont, sprang the
House of Bourbon. An ancient barony, the inheritance of
Béatrix, wife of this prince, was erected into a dukedom in
favour of Louis, his son, and gave to his descendants the name
which they have retained, that of France being reserved for
the Royal branch. … The House which had the honour of
supplying sovereigns to our country was called 'France.' But
our kings, jealous of that great name, reserved it for their
own sons and grandsons. Hence the designation 'fils' and
'petit-fils de France.' The posterity of each 'fils de France'
formed a cadet branch which took its name from the title borne
by its head, Valois, Artois, Bourbon, &c. At the time of the
accession of Henry IV. the name of Bourbon remained with those
younger branches of Condé and Montpensier, which had sprung
from the main branch before the death of Henry III. But Henry
IV.'s children, those of Louis XIII., and those of their
successors in the throne, were surnamed 'de France'; whilst in
conformity with the law the descendants of Louis XIII.'s
second son received the surname d' Orleans, from the title
borne by their grandfather. … Possessors of vast territories
which they [the Bourbons] owed more to family alliances than to
the generosity of kings, they had known how to win the
affection of their vassals. Their magnificent hospitality drew
around them a numerous and brilliant nobility. Thus the
'hôtel' of those brave and august princes, the 'gracieux ducs
de Bourbon,' as our ancient poet called them, was considered
the best school in which a young nobleman could learn the
profession of arms. The order of the Écu, instituted by one of
them, had been coveted and worn by the bravest warriors of
France. Sufficiently powerful to outshine the rank and file of
the nobility, they had at the same time neither the large
estates nor the immense power which enabled the Dukes of
Bourgogne, of Bretagne, and other great vassals, to become the
rivals or the enemies of the royal authority." The example of
the treason of the Constable Bourbon [see FRANCE: A. D.
1520-1523] "was not followed by any of the princes of his
House. … The property of the Connétable was definitely
alienated from his House, and Vendôme [his brother] did not
receive the hereditary possessions of the Dukes d' Alençon, to
which his wife was entitled. He died on the 25th of March,
1538, leaving but a scanty patrimony to his numerous
descendants. … Five only of his sons obtained their
majority. … Two of these princes founded families: Antoine
[Duc de Vendôme and afterwards King of Navarre through his
marriage with Jeanne d' Albret, see NAVARRE: A. D. 1528-1563],
father of Henry IV., who was the ancestor of all the Bourbons
now living, and Louis [Prince de Condé, born 1530], who was
the root of the House of Condé and all its branches."

_Duc d' Aumale,
History of the Princes of the House of Condé,
book 1, chapter 1, and foot-note._

See, also, FRANCE: A. D. 1327.

BOURBON: The Spanish House.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1698-1700, and 1701-1702.

BOURBON FAMILY COMPACT,
The First.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1733.

The Second.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1743 (OCTOBER).

The Third.

See FRANCE: A. D: 1761 (AUGUST).

BOURGEOIS. BOURG.

In France, "the word Bourg originally meant any aggregation of
houses, from the greatest city to the smallest hamlet. But …
the word shifted its meaning, and came to signify an
assemblage of houses surrounded with walls. Secondly, the word
Bourgeois also was at first used as synonymous with the
inhabitant of a bourg. Afterward, when corporate franchises
were bestowed on particular bourgs, the word acquired a sense
corresponding with that of the English designation Burgess;
that is a person entitled to the privileges of a municipal
corporation. Finally, the word Bourgeoisie, in its primitive
sense, was the description of the burgesses when spoken of
collectively. But, in its later use, the word would be best
rendered into English by our term citizenship; that is, the
privilege of franchise of being a burgess."

_Sir J. Stephen,
Lectures on the History of France,
lecture 5._

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BOURGES,
Origin of.

The city of Bourges, France, was originally the capital city
of the Gallic tribe of the Bituriges, and was called Avaricum.
"As with many other Gaulish towns, the original name became
exchanged for that of the people, i. e., Bituriges, and thence
the modern Bourges and the name of the province, Berri."

_C. Merivale,
History of the Romans,
chapter 12._

See, also, ÆDUI,
and GAUL: B. C. 58-51.

BOUVINES, Battle of (A. D. 1214).

The battle of Bouvines, fought at Bouvines, in Flanders, not
far from Tournay, on the 27th of August, A. D. 1214, was one
of the important battles of European history. On one side were
the French, led by their king Philip Augustus, and fighting
ostensibly as the champions of the Pope and the church. On the
other side was an allied army of English, under king John, of
Germans, under Otho, the Guelf—one of two rival claimants of
the imperial crown—and of Flemings and Lotharingians, led by
their several lords. Philip Augustus had expelled the English
king from his Norman dukedom and caused a court of the peers
of France to declare the title forfeit. From that success his
ambition rose so high that he had aspired to the conquest of
the English crown. A terrible pope—Innocent III.—had
approved his ambition and encouraged it; for John, the
miserable English king, had given provocations to the church
which had brought the thunders of the Vatican upon his head.
Excommunicated, himself, his kingdom under interdict,—the
latter offered itself a tempting prey to the vigorous French
king, who posed as the champion of the pope. He had prepared a
strong army and a fleet for the invasion of England; but fate
and papal diplomacy had baffled his schemes. At the last
moment, John had made a base submission, had meekly
surrendered his kingdom to the pope and had received it back
as a papal fief. Whereupon the victorious pope commanded his
French champion to forego his intended attack. Philip, under
these circumstances, determined to use the army he had
assembled against a troublesome and contumacious vassal, the
count of Flanders. The pope approved, and Flanders was
overrun. King John led an English force across the channel to
the help of the Flemish count, and Otho, the German king or
emperor, who was king John's nephew, joined the coalition, to
antagonize France and the pope. The battle of Bouvines was the
decisive conflict of the war. It humbled, for the time, the
independent spirit of Flanders, and several remoter
consequences can be traced to it. It was "the first real
French victory. It roused the national spirit as nothing else
could have roused it; it was the nation's first taste of
glory, dear above all things to the French heart. … The
battle somewhat broke the high spirit of the barons: the
lesser barons and churches grouped themselves round the king;
the greater lords came to feel their weakness in the presence
of royalty. Among the incidental consequences of the day of
Bouvines was the ruin of Otho's ambition. He fled from the
field into utter obscurity. He retired to the Hartz mountains,
and there spent the remaining years of his life in private.
King John, too, was utterly discredited by his share in the
year's campaign. To it may partly be traced his humiliation
before his barons, and the signing of the Great Charter in the
following year at Runnymede."

_G. W. Kitchin,
History of France,
book 3, chapter 7, section 4._

"The battle of Bouvines was not the victory of Philip Augustus
alone, over a coalition of foreign princes; the victory was
the work of king and people, barons, burghers, and peasants,
of Ile de France, of Orleanness, of' Picardy, of Normandy, of
Champagne, and of Burgundy. … The victory of Bouvines marked
the commencement of the time at which men might speak, and
indeed did speak, by one single name, of 'the French.' The
nation in France and the kingship in France on that day rose
out of and above the feudal system."

_F. P. Guizot,
Popular History of France,
chapter 18._

See, also,
ITALY: A. D. 1183-1250,
and ENGLAND: A. D. 1205-1213, and 1215.

BOVATE, OR OXGANG.

"Originally as much as an ox-team could plough in a year.
Eight Bovates are usually said to have made a Carucate, but
the number of acres which made a Bovate are variously stated
in different records from 8 to 24."

_N. H. Nicolas,
Notitia Historica,
page 134._

BOVIANUM, Battle of (B. C. 88).

See ROME: B. C. 90-88.

BOWIDES, The.

See MAHOMETAN CONQUEST AND EMPIRE: A. D. 815-945;
also, SAMANIDES;
also, TURKS (SELJUKS): A. D. 1004-1063.

BOYACA, Battle of (1819).

See COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1810-1819.

BOYARS.

"In the old times, when Russia was merely a collection of
independent principalities, each reigning prince was
surrounded by a group of armed men, composed partly of Boyars,
or large landed proprietors, and partly of knights, or
soldiers of fortune. These men, who formed the Noblesse of the
time, were to a certain extent under the authority of the
Prince, but they were by no means mere obedient, silent
executors of his will. The Boyars might refuse to take part in
his military expeditions. … Under the Tartar domination this
political equilibrium was destroyed. When the country had been
conquered, the princes became servile vassals of the Khan, and
arbitrary rulers towards their own subjects. The political
significance of the nobles was thereby greatly diminished."

_D. M. Wallace,
Russia,
chapter 17._

BOYNE, Battle of the (1690).

See IRELAND: A. D. 1689-1691.

BOYS IN BLUE. BOYS IN GRAY. Soldier nicknames of the American Civil War.

"During the first year of the war [of the Rebellion, in the
United States] the Union soldiers commonly called their
opponents 'Rebs' and 'Secesh'; in 1862, 'Confeds'; in 1863,
'Gray-backs' and 'Butternuts'; and in 1864, 'Johnnies.' The
nickname 'Butternuts' was given the Confederates on account of
their homespun clothes, dyed reddish-brown with a dye made of
butternut bark. The last name, 'Johnnies,' is said to have
originated in a quarrel between two pickets, which began by
the Union man's saying that the Confederates depended on
England to get them out of their scrape. … The Union man …
said that a 'Reb' was no better than a Johnny Bull, anyhow.
… The name stuck, and in the last part of the war the
Confederate soldiers were almost universally called
'Johnnies.' Throughout the war the Confederates dubbed all the
Union soldiers 'Yankees' and 'Yanks,' without any reference to
the part of the country they came from. … Other nicknames
for Union soldiers, occasionally used, were 'Feds,' 'Blue
Birds' and 'Blue Bellies.' Since the war the opponents have
been commonly called 'Boys in Blue' and 'Boys in Gray.'"

_J. D. Champlin, Jr.,
Young Folks' History of the War for the Union,
page 137._

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BOZRA.

See CARTHAGE: DIVISIONS, &c.

BOZZARIS, Marco, The death of.

See GREECE: A. D. 1821-1829.

BRABANT: Mythical Explanation of the name.

See ANTWERP.

BRABANT: 4th century.
First settlement of the Franks.

See TOXANDRIA.

BRABANT: 9th century.
Known as Basse Lorraine.

See LORRAINE: A. D. 843-870.

BRABANT: A. D. 1096-1099.
Duke Godfrey de Bouillon in the First Crusade, and his kingdom
of Jerusalem.

See CRUSADES: A. D. 1096-1099;
and JERUSALEM: A. D. 1099-1144.

BRABANT: 12th to 15th centuries.
The county and duchy.

From the beginning of the 12th century, the county, afterwards
the duchy, of Brabant, existed under its own counts and dukes,
until the beginning of the 15th century, when it drifted under
the influences which at that time were drawing all the
Netherland States within the sphere of the sovereignty of the
Burgundian dukes.

BRABANT: A. D. 1430.
Acquisition by the House of Burgundy.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1428-1430.

----------BRABANT: End----------

BRACCATI, The.

See ROME: B. C. 275.

BRACHYCEPHALIC MEN.

See DOLICHOCEPHALIC.

BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT.

See Ohio (VALLEY): A. D. 1755.

BRADFORD, Governor, and the Plymouth Colony.

See MASSACHUSETTS: A. D. 1621, and after.

BRADFORD'S PRESS.

See PRINTING, &c.: A. D. 1535-1709, 1704-1729,
and PENNSYLVANIA: A. D. 1692-1696.

BRAGANZA, The House of: A. D. 1640.
Accession to the throne of Portugal.

See PORTUGAL: A. D. 1637-1668.

BRAGG, General Braxton.
Invasion of Kentucky.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (JUNE-OCTOBER:
TENNESSEE-KENTUCKY).

The Battle of Stone River.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862-1863
(DECEMBER-JANUARY: TENNESSEE).

The Tullahoma Campaign.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JUNE-JULY:
TENNESSEE).

Chickamauga.
The Chattanooga Campaign.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (AUGUST-SEPTEMBER,
and OCTOBER-NOVEMBER: TENNESSEE).

BRAHMANISM.

See INDIA: THE IMMIGRATION AND CONQUESTS OF THE AHYAS.

BRAHMANS.

See CASTE SYSTEM OF INDIA.
Also, INDIA: THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.

BRANCHIDÆ, The.

See ORACLES OF THE GREEKS.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 928-1142.
Beginnings of the Margravate.

"A. D. 928, Henry the Fowler, marching across the frozen bogs,
took Brannibor, a chief fortress of the Wends; first mention
in human speech of the place now called Brandenburg: Bor or
'Burg of the Brenns' (if there ever was any Tribe of
Brenns,—Brennus, there as elsewhere, being name for King or
Leader); 'Burg of the Woods,' say others,—who as little know.
Probably, at that time, a town of clay huts, with ditch and
palisaded sod-wall round it; certainly 'a chief fortress of
the Wends,'—who must have been a good deal surprised at sight
of Henry on the rimy winter morning near a thousand years ago.
… That Henry appointed due Wardenship in Brannibor was in
the common course. Sure enough, some Murkgraf must take charge
of Brannibor,—he of the Lausitz eastward, for example, or he
of Salzwedel westward:—that Brannibor, in time, will itself
be found the fit place, and have its own Markgraf of
Brandenburg; this, and what in the next nine centuries
Brandenburg will grow to, Henry is far from surmising. … In
old books are lists of the primitive Markgraves of
Brandenburg, from Henry's time downward; two sets, Markgraves
of the Witekind race,' and of another: but they are altogether
uncertain, a shadowy intermittent set of Markgraves, both the
Witekind set and the Non-Witekind; and truly, for a couple of
centuries, seem none of them to have been other than subaltern
Deputies, belonging mostly to Lausitz or Salzwedel; of whom
therefore we can say nothing here, but must leave the first
two hundred years in their natural gray state,—perhaps
sufficiently conceivable by the reader. … The
Ditmarsch-Stade kindred, much slain in battle with the
Heathen, and otherwise beaten upon, died out, about the year
1130 (earlier perhaps, perhaps later, for all is shadowy
still); and were succeeded in the Salzwedel part of their
function by a kindred called 'of Ascanien and Ballenstadt';
the Ascanier or Anhalt Margraves; whose History, and that of
Brandenburg, becomes henceforth articulate to us. … This
Ascanien, happily, has nothing to do with Brute of Troy or the
pious Æneas's son; it is simply the name of a most ancient
Castle (etymology unknown to me, ruins still dimly traceable)
on the north slope of the Hartz Mountains; short way from
Aschersleben,—the Castle and Town of Aschersleben are, so to
speak, a second edition of Ascanien. … The kindred, called
Grafs and ultimately Herzogs (Dukes) of 'Ascanien and
Ballenstädt,' are very famous in old German History,
especially down from this date. Some reckon that they had
intermittently been Markgrafs, in their region, long before
this; which is conceivable enough; at all events it is very
plain they did now attain the Office in Salzwedel (straightway
shifting it to Brandenburg); and held it continuously, it and
much else that lay adjacent, for centuries, in a highly
conspicuous manner. In Brandenburg they lasted for about
two-hundred years."

_T. Carlyle,
Frederick the Great,
book 2, chapter 3-4._

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1142-1152.
The Electorate.

"He they call 'Albert the Bear (Albrecht der Bär),' first of
the Ascanien Markgraves of Brandenburg;—first wholly
definite Markgrave of Brandenburg that there is; once a very
shining figure in the world, though now fallen dim enough
again, … got the Northern part of what is still called
Saxony, and kept it in his family; got the Brandenburg
Countries withal, got the Lausitz; was the shining figure and
great man of the North in his day. The Markgrafdom of
Salzwedel (which soon became of Brandenburg) he very naturally
acquired (A. D. 1142 or earlier); very naturally, considering
what Saxon and other honours and possessions he had already
got hold of. We can only say, it was the luckiest of events
for Brandenburg, and the beginning of all the better destinies
it has had.
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A conspicuous Country ever since in the world, and which grows
ever more so in our late times. … He transferred the
Markgrafdom to Brandenburg, probably as more central in his
wide lands; Salzwedel is henceforth the led Markgrafdom or
Marck, and soon falls out of notice in the world. Salzwedel is
called henceforth ever since the 'Old Marck (Alte Marck,
Altmarck)'; the Brandenburg countries getting the name of 'New
Marck.' … Under Albert the Markgrafdom had risen to be an
Electorate withal. The Markgraf of Brandenburg was now
furthermore the Karfürst of Brandenburg: officially
'Arch-treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire'; and one of the
Seven who have a right (which became about this time an
exclusive one for those Seven) to choose, to 'kieren' the
Romish Kaiser; and who are therefore called 'Kur-Princes,'
Kurfürste or Electors, as the highest dignity except the
Kaiser's own."

_T. Carlyle,
Frederick the Great,
book 2, chapter 4._

See, also, GERMANY: A. D. 1125-1152.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1168-1417.
Under the Ascanian, the Bavarian and the Luxemburg lines, to
the first of the Hohenzollern.

Albert the Bear was succeeded in 1168 by his son Otho. "In
1170, as it would appear, the name of Brandenburg was
substituted for that of North Mark, which had ceased to
describe more than the original nucleus of the colony, now one
of the several districts into which it was divided. The city
and territory of Brandenburg were not probably included in the
imperial grant, but were inherited from the Wendish prince,
Pribislaw, whom Albert had converted to Christianity. …
Under Otho II., brother of the preceding, the family
inheritance was sorely mismanaged. The Margrave becoming
involved in some quarrel with the See of Magdeburg, the
Archbishop placed him under the ban; and as the price of
release Otho was required to accept the Suzerainty of the
prelate for the older and better part of his dominions. His
brother and successor, Albert II., was also unfortunate in the
beginning of his career: but recovered the favor of the
Emperor, and restored the prestige of his house before his
death. … Very important acquisitions were made during the
reign of these two princes. The preoccupations of the King of
Denmark gave them a secure foothold in Pomerania, which the
native nobility acknowledged; the frontiers were pushed
eastward to the Oder, where the New Mark was organized, and
the town of Frankfort was laid out; purchase put them in
possession of the district of Lebus; and the bride of Otho
III., a Bohemian princess, brought him as her dowry an
extensive region on the Upper Spree with several thriving
villages—all this in spite of the division of power and
authority. … Otho III. died in 1267, John one year later;
and a new partition of the estate was made between their
several sons, the oldest, Otho IV., receiving, however, the
title and prerogatives of head of the house." The last
margrave of the Ascanian line, Waldemar, died in 1310. "His
cousin and only heir, Henry, was a minor, and survived him but
a year." Then "a host of claimants arose for the whole or
parts of the Mark. The estates showed at first a gallant
devotion to the widow, and intrusted the reins of authority to
her; but she repaid this fidelity by hastily espousing the
Duke of Brunswick, and transferring her rights to him. The
transaction was not, however, ratified by the estates, and the
Duke failed to enforce it by arms. Pomerania threw off the
yoke which it had once unwillingly accepted; Bohemia reclaimed
the wedding portion of Otho's bride; the Duke of Liegnitz
sought to recover Lebus, although it had once been regularly
sold; and in the general scramble the Church, through its
local representatives, fought with all the energy of mere
worldly robbers. But in this crisis the Emperor forgot neither
the duties of his station nor the interests of his house.
Louis II. of Bavaria then wore the purple. By feudal law a
vacant fief reverted to its suzerain. … It was not therefore
contrary to law, nor did it shock the moral sense of the age,
when Louis drew the Mark practically into his own possession
by conferring it nominally upon his minor son. … During the
minority of Louis the Margrave, the province was administered
by Louis the Emperor, and with some show of vigor." But
troubles so thickened about the Emperor, in his conflict with
the House of Austria, on the one hand, and with the Pope on
the other [see GERMANY: A. D. 1314-1317], that he could not
continue the protection of his son. The Mark of Brandenburg
was invaded by the King of Poland, and its Margrave "watched
the devastation in helpless dismay." The people defended
themselves. "The young city of Frankfort was the leader in the
tardy but successful uprising. The Poles were expelled; the
citizens had for the time saved the Mark. … The Margrave
finally wearied even of the forms of authority, and sold his
unhappy dominions to his two brothers, another Louis and Otho.
In the meantime his father had died. The Electors—or five of
them—had already deposed him and chosen in his place Charles
of Moravia, a prince of the house of Luxemburg, as his
successor. He became respectably and even creditably known in
history as Charles IV. … Although he failed in the attempt
to subdue by arms the Margrave of Brandenburg, who had
naturally espoused his father's cause, he was persistent and
ingenious in diplomatic schemes for overthrowing the House of
Bavaria and bringing the Mark under his own sceptre. … From
Louis he procured … a treaty of succession, by which he
should acquire Brandenburg in case of the death of that
Margrave and his brother Otho without heirs. His intrigues
were finally crowned with complete success. Louis died
suddenly in 1365. Otho, thenceforth alone in the charge,
vacillated between weak submission to the Emperor's will, and
spurts of petulant but feeble resistance; until Charles put an
end to the farce by invading the Mark, crushing the army of
the Margrave, and forcing him to an abject capitulation. In
1371, after a nominal rule of half a century, and for the
price of a meagre annuity, the Bavarian line transferred all
its rights to the family of Charles IV." Charles died in 1378.
His son Wenzel, "for whom the Mark had been destined in the
plans of Charles, acquired, meanwhile, the crown of Bohemia, a
richer prize, and Brandenburg passed to the next son,
Sigismond. The change was a disastrous one." Sigismond pawned
the Mark to his kinsman, Jobst, of Moravia, and it fell into
great disorder. "Imperial affairs during this period were in
scarcely less confusion. Wenzel of Bohemia had been chosen
emperor, and then deposed for obvious unfitness. Rupert, Count
Palatine, had next been ejected, and had died. Again the post
was vacant, and Sigismond, still the real Elector of
Brandenburg, … issued successfully from the contest. His
good fortune was due in a conspicuous degree to the influence
and the money of Frederic, Burggrave of Nuremberg [see
HOHENZOLLERN, RISE OF THE HOUSE OF]; and it is to the credit
of Sigismond that he did not add ingratitude to his other
vices, but on his election as emperor hastened [1411] to make
his patron statthalter, or viceroy of the Mark." Six years
later, in 1417, Frederic was formally invested with the
sovereignty of the Mark, as Margrave and Elector.

_H. Tuttle,
History of Prussia to the Accession of Frederick the Great,
chapters 1 and 3._

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BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1355.
Declared an integral part of the Kingdom of Bohemia.

See BOHEMIA: A. D. 1355.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1417-1640.
Rising importance of the Hohenzollern family.
Acquisition of the Duchy of Prussia.

On being invested with the Electorate of Brandenburg,
Frederick of Nuremberg sold the office of Burggrave to the
Nurembergers and devoted himself to his new province.
"Temperate, just, and firm in his dealings, he succeeded in
reducing Brandenburg from anarchy to order. Already as deputy
for Sigismund he had begun the task. … During the reign of
his son and successor, characteristically known as Frederick
Ironteeth [1440-1472], the strong hand was not relaxed; and
Brandenburg became thenceforward tamed to law and order. The
Electorate, which during the preceding century had been
curtailed by losses in war and by sales, began again to
enlarge its borders. The New March, which had been sold in the
days of Sigismund to the Teutonic Knights, was now [1455]
bought back from them in their need. … Albert Achilles, the
brother and successor of Frederick II., was a man as powerful
and as able as his predecessor. By his accession the
principalities of Baireuth and Anspach, which had been
separated from the Electorate for the younger sons of
Frederick I., were reunited to it; and by a scheme of
cross-remainders new plans were laid for the acquisition of
territory. … It was already understood that the Electorate
was to descend according to the law of primogeniture; but
Anspach and Baireuth were still reserved as appanages for
younger sons; and upon the death of Albert Achilles, in 1484,
his territories were again divided, and remained so for more
than a hundred years. The result of the division, however, was
to multiply and not to weaken the strength of the House. The
earlier years of the 16th century saw the Hohenzollerns rising
everywhere to power. Albert Achilles had been succeeded [1486]
by John, of whom little is known except his eloquence, and by
Joachim [1499], who was preparing to bear his part against the
Reformation. A brother of Joachim had become, in 1514, Elector
of Mentz; and the double vote of the family at the election of
Charles V. had increased their importance. The younger branch
was rising also to eminence. George of Brandenburg, Margrave
of Anspach, and grandson of Albert Achilles, was able in 1524
to purchase the Duchy of Jagerndorf in Silesia, and with it
the reversions to the principalities of Oppeln and Ratibor,
which eventually fell to him. His younger brother, Albert, had
been chosen in 1511 Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, and
was already converting his office into the hereditary Dukedom
of Prussia," which it became in 1525 (see POLAND: A. D.
1333-1572). "The Elector Joachim I. of Brandenburg is perhaps
the least prominent, but was not the least prudent, of his
family. Throughout his life he adhered to the old faith, and
preserved his dominions in tranquility. His son and successor,
Joachim II., to the joy of his people, adopted the new
religion [1539]; and found in the secularized bishoprics of
Brandenburg, Havelburg, and Lebus, some compensation for the
ecclesiastical Electorate which was about to pass, upon the
death of Albert of Mentz, from his family. But he also was
able to secure the continuance of peace. Distrustful of the
success of the League of Smalkald he refused to join in it,
and became chiefly known as a mediator in the struggles of the
time. The Electors John George [1571-1598] and Joachim
Frederick [1598-1608] followed the same policy of peace. …
Peace and internal progress had characterized the 16th
century; war and external acquisitions were to mark the 17th.
The failure of the younger line in 1603 caused Bayreuth,
Anspach, and Jagerndorf to fall to the Elector Joachim
Frederick; but as they were re-granted almost at once to
younger sons, and never again reverted to the Electorate,
their acquisition became of little importance. The Margrave,
George Frederick, however, had held, in addition to his own
territories, the office of administrator for Albert Frederick,
second Duke of Prussia, who had become imbecile; and, by his
death, the Elector of Brandenburg became next of kin, and
claimed to succeed to the office. The admission of this claim
placed the Electors in virtual possession of the Duchy. By a
deed of co-infeoffment, which Joachim II. had obtained in 1568
from his father-in-law the King of Poland, they were heirs to
the Duchy upon failure of the younger line. … Duke Albert
died in 1618; and Brandenburg and Prussia were then united
under the Elector John Sigismund. It was well that the Duchy
had been secured before the storm which was already gathering
over the Empire had burst. … During the long struggle of the
Thirty Years' War, the history of Brandenburg is that of a
sufferer rather than an actor. … George William, who died in
1640, bequeathed a desert to his successor. That successor was
Frederick William, to be known in history as the Great Elector."

_C. F. Johnstone,
Historical Abstracts,
chapter 5._

ALSO IN:
_T. Carlyle,
History of Frederick the Great.
book 3 (volume 1)._

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1609.
The Jülich-Cleve contest.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1608-1618

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1627.
Occupied by Wallenstein and the Imperial army.

See GERMANY: 1627-1629.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1630-1631.
Compulsory alliance of the Elector with Gustavus Adolphus of
Sweden.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1630-1631, and 1631.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1632.
Refusal to enter the Union of Heilbronn.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1632-1634.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1634.
Desertion of the Protestant cause.
Alliance with the Emperor.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1634-1639.

{309}

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1640-1688.
The Great Elector.
His development of the strength of the Electorate.
His successful wars.
His acquisition of the complete sovereignty of Prussia.
Fehrbellin.

"Frederic William, known in history as the Great Elector, was
only twenty years old when he succeeded his father. He found
everything in disorder: his country desolate, his fortresses
garrisoned by troops under a solemn order to obey only the
mandates of the Emperor, his army to be counted almost on the
fingers. His first care was to conclude a truce with the
Swedes; his second to secure his western borders by an
alliance with Holland; his third—not in order of action, for
in that respect it took first place—to raise the nucleus of
an army; his fourth, to cause the evacuation of his
fortresses. … To allay the wrath of the Emperor, he
temporised until his armed force had attained the number of
8,000. That force once under arms, he boldly asserted his
position, and with so much effect that in the discussions
preceding the Peace of Westphalia he could exercise a
considerable influence. By the terms of that treaty, the part
of Pomerania known as Hinter Pommern, the principalities of
Magdeburg and Halberstadt, and the bishoprics of Minden and
Kammin were ceded to Brandenburg. … The Peace once signed,
Frederic William set diligently to work to heal the disorders
and to repair the mischief which the long war had caused in
his dominions. … He specially cherished his army. We have
seen its small beginning in 1640-42. Fifteen years later, in
1655, or seven years after the conclusion of the Peace of
Westphalia, it amounted to 25,000 men, well drilled and well
disciplined, disposing of seventy-two pieces of cannon. In the
times in which he lived he had need of such an army. In 1654,
Christina, the wayward and gifted daughter of Gustavus
Adolphus, had abdicated. Her successor on the throne of Sweden
was her cousin, Charles Gustavus, Duke of Zweibrücken. … The
right of Charles Gustavus to the succession was, however,
contested by John Casimir, King of Poland. … War ensued. In
that war the star of Charles Gustavus was in the ascendant,
and the unfortunate John Casimir was forced to abandon his own
dominions and to flee into Silesia. The vicinity of the two
rivals to his own outlying territories was, however, too near
not to render anxious Frederic William of Brandenburg. To
protect Prussia, then held in fief from the King of Poland, he
marched with 8,000 men to its borders. But even with such a
force he was unable, or perhaps, more correctly, he was
prudently unwilling, to resist the insistence put upon him at
Königsberg by the victorious King of Sweden (1656) to transfer
to him the feudal overlordship of that province. Great results
followed from this compliance. Hardly had the treaty been
signed, when John Casimir, returning from Silesia with an
Imperial army at his back, drove the Swedes from Poland, and
recovered his dominions. He did not evidently intend to stop
there. Then it was that the opportunity arrived to the Great
Elector. Earnestly solicited by the King of Sweden to aid him
in a contest which had assumed dimensions so formidable,
Frederic William consented, but only on the condition that he
should receive the Polish palatinates (Woiwodshaften) of Posen
and Kalisch as the price of a victorious campaign. He then
joined the King with his army, met the enemy at Warsaw, fought
with him close to that city a great battle, which lasted three
days (28th to 30th July 1656), and which terminated then,
thanks mainly to the pertinacity of the Brandenburgers—in the
complete defeat of the Poles. The victory gained, Frederic
William withdrew his troops. … Again did John Casimir
recover from his defeat; again, aided by the Imperialists, did
he march to the front, reoccupy Warsaw, and take up a
threatening position opposite to the Swedish camp. The King of
Sweden beheld in this action on the part of his enemy the
prelude to his own certain destruction, unless by any means he
could induce the Elector of Brandenburg once more to save him.
He sent, then, urgent messengers after him to beg him to
return. The messengers found Frederic William at Labian. There
the Elector halted and there, joined the next day, 20th
November 1656, by King Charles Gustavus, he signed a treaty,
by which, on condition of his material aid in the war, the
latter renounced his feudal overlordship over Prussia, and
agreed to acknowledge the Elector and his male descendants as
sovereign dukes of that province. In the war which followed,
the enemies of Sweden and Brandenburg multiplied on every
side. The Danes and Lithuanians espoused the cause of John
Casimir. Its issue seemed to Frederic William more than
doubtful. He asked himself, then, whether—the new enemies who
had arisen being the enemies of Sweden and not of himself—he
had not more to gain by sharing in the victories of the Poles
than in the defeats of the Swedes. Replying to himself
affirmatively, he concluded, 29th September 1657, through the
intermediation of the Emperor, with the Poles, at Wehlau, a
treaty whereby the dukedom of Prussia was ceded in absolute
sovereignty to the Elector of Brandenburg and his male issue,
with reversion to Poland in case of the extinction of the
family of the Franconian Hohenzollerns; in return, Frederic
William engaged himself to support the Poles in their war
against Sweden with a corps of 4,000 men. But before this
convention could be acted upon, fortune had again smiled upon
Charles Gustavus. Turning in the height of winter against the
Danes, the King of Sweden had defeated them in the open field,
pursued them across the frozen waters of the Belt to Fünen and
Seeland, and had imposed upon their king the humiliating peace
of Roeskilde (1658). He seemed inclined to proceed still
further in the destruction of the ancient rival of his
country, when a combined army of Poles and Brandenburgers
suddenly poured through Mecklenburg into Holstein, drove
thence the Swedes, and gave them no rest till they had
evacuated likewise Schleswig and Jutland (1659). In a battle
which took place shortly afterwards on the island of Fünen, at
Nyborg, the Swedes suffered a defeat. This defeat made Charles
Gustavus despair of success, and he had already begun to treat
for peace, when death snatched him from the scene (January
1660). The negotiations which had begun, however, continued,
and finally peace was signed on the 1st May 1660, in the
monastery of Oliva, close to Danzig. This peace confirmed to
the Elector of Brandenburg his sovereign rights over the duchy
of Prussia. From this epoch dates the complete union of
Brandenburg and Prussia—a union upon which a great man was
able to lay the foundation of a powerful North German
Kingdom!" During the next dozen years, the Great Elector was
chiefly busied in establishing his authority in his dominions
and curbing the power of the nobles, particularly in Prussia.
{310}
In 1674, when Louis XIV. of France provoked war with
the German princes by his attack on the Dutch, Frederic
William led 20,000 men into Alsace to join the Imperial
forces. Louis then called upon his allies, the Swedes, to
invade Brandenburg, which they did, under General Wrangel, in
January, 1675. "Plundering and burning as they advanced, they
entered Havelland, the granary of Berlin, and carried their
devastations up to the very gates of that capital." The
Elector was retreating from Alsace before Turenne when he
heard of the invasion. He paused for some weeks, to put his
army in good condition, and then he hurried northwards, by
forced marches. The enemy was taken by surprise, and attacked
while attempting to retreat, near Fehrbellin, on the 18th of
June. After two hours of a tremendous hand-to-hand conflict,
"the right wing of the Swedes was crushed and broken; the
centre and left wing were in full retreat towards Fehrbellin.
The victors, utterly exhausted—they had scarcely quitted
their saddles for eleven days—were too worn out to pursue. It
was not till the following morning that, refreshed and
recovered, they followed the retreating foe to the borders of
Mecklenburg. … The Great Elector promptly followed up his
victory till he had compelled the Swedes to evacuate all
Pomerania. Three years later, when they once more crossed the
border from Livonia, he forced them again to retreat; and
although in the treaty signed at St. Germain in 1670 he was
forced to renounce his Pomeranian conquests, he did not the
less establish the ultimate right of the State of which he was
the real founder to those lands on the Baltic for which he had
so hardly struggled at the negotiations which preceded the
Peace of Westphalia. When he died (9th May 1688) he left the
Kingdom already made in a position of prosperity sufficient to
justify his son and successor in assuming, thirteen years
later, on the anniversary of the victory of FehrbeIlin, the
title of King."

_G. B. Malleson,
The Battle Fields of Germany,
chapter 8._

See, also, SCANDINAVIAN STATES (SWEDEN): A. D. 1644-1697.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1648.
The Peace of Westphalia.
Loss of part of Pomerania.
Compensating acquisitions.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1648.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1672-1679.
In the Coalition against Louis XIV.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1672-1674, and 1674-1678;
also NIMEGUEN, PEACE OF.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1689-1696.
The war of the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1690, to 1695-1696.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1697.
The Treaty of Ryswick.
Restitutions by France.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1697.

BRANDENBURG: A. D. 1700.
The Elector made King of Prussia.

See PRUSSIA: A. D. 1700.

----------BRANDENBURG: End----------

BRANDY STATION, OR FLEETWOOD. Battle of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JUNE: VIRGINIA).

BRANDYWINE, Battle of the (A. D. 1777).

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1777
(JANUARY-DECEMBER).

BRANKIRKA, Battle of (1518).

See SCANDINAVIAN STATES: A. D. 1397-1527.

BRANT, CHIEF, and the Indian warfare of the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1778 (JUNE-NOVEMBER),
and (JULY).

BRASIDAS IN CHALKIDIKE.

See GREECE: B. C. 424-421.

BRAZIL:
Origin of the name.

"As the most valuable part of the cargo which Americus
Vespucius carried back to Europe was the well-known dye-wood,
'Cæsalpina Braziliensis,'—called in the Portuguese language
'pau brazil,' on account of its resemblance to 'brazas,'
'coals of fire,'—the land whence it came was termed the 'land
of the brazil-wood'; and finally this appellation was
shortened to Brazil, and completely usurped the names Vera
Cruz, or Santa Cruz."

_J. C. Fletcher and D. P. Kidder,
Brazil and the Brazilians,
chapter 3._

See, also, AMERICA: A. D. 1500-1514.

BRAZIL:
The aboriginal inhabitants.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: TUPI. GUARANI. TUPUYAS;
also GUCK or Coco GROUP.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1500-1504.
Discovery, exploration of the coast and first settlement.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1499-1500, 1500-1514, and 1503-1504.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1510-1661.
Portuguese colonization and agriculture.
Introduction of Slavery.
The coming of the Jesuits.
Conquests of the Dutch, and the Portuguese recovery of them.

"Brazil, on which the Portuguese ships had been cast by
accident, had been found to unite in itself the capabilities
of every part of the world in which Europeans have settled,
though happily gold and silver had not yet been discovered,
and the colonists betook themselves from the first to
agriculture. 'The first permanent settlements on this coast
were made by Jews, exiled by the persecution of the
Inquisition; and the government supplemented these by sending
out criminals of all kinds. But gradually the consequence of
Brazil became recognized, and, as afterwards happened in New
England, the nobility at home asked to share the land among
themselves. Emmanuel would not countenance such a claim, but
this great prince died in 1521, and his successor, John III.,
extended to Brazil the same system which had been adopted in
Madeira and the Azores. The whole sea-coast of Brazil was
parcelled out by feudal grants. It was divided into
captaincies, each 50 leagues in length, with no limits in the
interior; and these were granted out as male fiefs, with
absolute power over the natives, such as at that time existed
over the serfs who tilled the soil in Europe. But the native
Brazilians were neither so easy a conquest as the Peruvians,
nor so easily induced to labour; and the Portuguese now began
to bring negros from the Guinea coast. This traffic in human
flesh had long been vigorously pursued in various parts of
Europe; the Portuguese now introduced it to America. The
settlers of Brazil were, properly speaking, the first European
colonists. For they sold their own possessions at home, and
brought their households with them to the new country. Thus
they gradually formed the heart of a new nation, whereas the
chief Spaniards always returned home after a certain tenure of
their offices, and those who remained in the colony descended
to the rank of the conquered natives. Many of those who came
to Brazil had already served in the expeditions to the East;
and they naturally perceived that the coast of America might
raise the productions of India. Hence Brazil early became a
plantation colony, and its prosperity is very much due to the
culture of the sugar cane.
{311}
The Portuguese were greatly assisted, both in
the East and the West, by the efforts of the newly founded
order of the Jesuits. … John III. in [1549] sent out six of
the order with the first governor of Brazil. … The Dutch,
made bold by their great successes in the East, now sought to
win the trade of Brazil by force of arms, and the success of
the East India Company encouraged the adventurers who
subscribed the funds for that of the West Indies, incorporated
in 1621. The Dutch Admiral, Jacob Willekens, successfully
assaulted San Salvador [Bahia] in 1624, and though the capital
was afterwards retaken by the intrepid Archbishop Texeira, one
half of the coast of Brazil submitted to the Dutch. Here, as
in the East, the profit of the company was the whole aim of
the Dutch, and the spirit in which they executed their design
was a main cause of its failure. … But … the profits of
the company … rose at one time to [cent?] per cent. The
visions of the speculators of Amsterdam became greater; and
they resolved to become masters of all Brazil. … The man
whom they despatched [1637] to execute this design was Prince
John Maurice of Nassau. … In a short time he had greatly
extended the Dutch possessions. But the Stad-houder was
subject, not to the wise and learned men who sat in the
States-General, but to the merchants who composed the courts
of the company. They thought of nothing but their dividends;
they considered that Maurice kept up more troops and built
more fortresses than were necessary for a mercantile
community, and that he lived in too princely a fashion for one
in their service. Perhaps they suspected him of an intention
of slipping into that royal dignity which the feudal frame of
Brazilian society seemed to offer him. At any rate, in 1643,
they forced him to resign. A recent revolution had terminated
the subjection of Portugal to Spain, and the new king of
Portugal concluded a truce for ten years with Holland. War was
therefore supposed to be out of the question. … But the
recall of Maurice was the signal for an independent revolt in
Brazil. Though the mother countries were at peace, war broke
out between the Dutch and the Portuguese of Brazil in 1645.
The Jesuits had long preached a crusade against the heretic
Dutch. … John Ferdinand de Vieyra, a wealthy merchant of
Pernambuco, led a general uprising of the Brazilians, and
although the Dutch made a stubborn resistance, they received
no assistance from home; they were driven from one post after
another, until, in 1654, the last of the company's servants
quitted Brazil. The Dutch declared war against Portugal; but
in 1661 peace was made, and the Dutch sold their claims for
8,000,000 florins, the right of trading being secured to them.
But after the expulsion of the Dutch, the trade of Brazil came
more and more into the hands of the English."

_E. J. Payne,
History of European Colonies,
chapters 2-3._

ALSO IN:
_R. G. Watson,
Spanish and Portuguese South America,
volume 1, chapters 9 and 15;
volume 2, chapters 1-4._

_R. Southey,
History of Brazil,
volumes 1-2._

BRAZIL: A. D. 1524.
Conceded to Portugal.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1519-1524.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1531-1641.
The Republic of St. Paul.
The Paulistas or Mamelukes.

"The celebrated republic of St. Paul, as it is usually
denominated, had its rise about the year 1531, from a very
inconsiderable beginning. A mariner of the name of Ramalho,
having been shipwrecked on this part of the coast, was
received among a small Indian tribe called the Piratininga,
after the name of their chief. Here he was found by De Sousa
some years afterwards, and, contrary to the established policy
of permitting no settlement excepting immediately on the
sea-coast, he allowed this man to remain, on account of his
having intermarried and having a family. The advantages of
this establishment were such, that permission was soon after
given to others to settle here, and as the adventurers
intermarried with the natives, their numbers increased
rapidly. … A mixed race was formed, possessing a compound of
civilized and uncivilized manners and customs. The Jesuits
soon after established themselves with a number of Indians
they had reclaimed, and exerted a salutary influence in
softening and harmonizing the growing colony. In 1581, the
seat of government was removed from St. Vincent on the coast
to St. Pauls; but its subjection to Portugal was little more
than nominal. … The mixture produced an improved race, 'the
European spirit of enterprise,' says Southey, 'developed
itself in constitutions adapted to the country.' But it is
much more likely that the free and popular government which
they enjoyed produced the same fruits here as in every other
country. … They soon quarreled with the Jesuits [1581], on
account of the Indians whom they had reduced to slavery. The
Jesuits declaimed against the practice; but as there were now
many wealthy families among the Paulistas, the greater part of
whose fortunes consisted in their Indians, it was not heard
with patience. The Paulistas first engaged in war against the
enemies of their allies, and afterwards on their own account,
on finding it advantageous. They established a regular trade
with the other provinces whom they supplied with Indian
slaves. They by this time acquired the name of Mamelukes, from
the peculiar military discipline they adopted, bearing some
resemblance to the Mamelukes of Egypt. The revolution in
Portugal, when Philip II. of Spain placed himself on its
throne, cast the Paulistas in a state of independence, as they
were the only settlers in Brazil which did not acknowledge the
new dynasty. From the year 1580 until the middle of the
following century, they may be regarded as a republic, and it
was during this period they displayed that active and
enterprising character for which they were so much celebrated.
… While a Spanish king occupied the throne of Portugal, they
attacked the Spanish settlements on the Paraguay, alleging
that the Spaniards were encroaching on their territory. …
They attacked the Jesuit missions [1629]. … As they had
fixed themselves east of the Parana, the Paulistas laid hold
of this as a pretext. They carried away upwards of 2,000 of
their Indians into captivity, the greater part of whom were
sold and distributed as slaves. The Jesuits complained to the
king of Spain and to the pope; the latter fulminated his
excommunication. The Paulistas attacked the Jesuits in their
college, and put their principal to death, expelled the
remainder, and set up a religion of their own; at least no
longer acknowledged the supremacy of the pope. In consequence
of the interruption of the African trade during the Dutch war,
the demand for Indian slaves was very much increased. The
Paulistas redoubled their exertions, and traversed every part
of the Brazils in armed troops. … The foundation was laid of
enmity to the Portuguese, which continues to this day,
although a complete stop was put to the infamous practice in
the year 1756. … When the house of Braganza, in 1640,
ascended the throne, the Paulistas, instead of acknowledging
him, conceived the idea of electing a king for themselves.
They actually elected a distinguished citizen of the name of
Bueno, who persisted in refusing to accept, upon which they
were induced to acknowledge Joam IV. [1641]. It was not
until long afterwards that they came under the Portuguese
government."

_H. M. Brackenridge,
Voyage to South America,
volume 1, chapter 2._

ALSO IN: _R. Southey,
History of Brazil,
chapter 23 (volume 2)._

{312}

BRAZIL: A. D. 1540-1541.
Orellana's voyage down the Amazons.

See AMAZONS RIVER.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1555-1560.
Attempted Huguenot colony on the Bay of Rio Janeiro.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1562-1563.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1654-1777.
The Portuguese policy of exclusion and restriction.-Boundary
disputes with Spain.

"The period of peace which followed these victories [over the
Dutch] … was used by the Portuguese government only to get
up a kind of old Japanese system of isolation, by which it was
intended to keep the colony in perpetual tutelage. In
consequence of this even now, after the lapse of half a
century since it violently separated itself, Brazilians
generally entertain a bitter grudge against the mother
country. All the trade to and from Brazil was engrossed by
Portugal; every functionary, down to the last clerk, was
Portuguese. Any other European of scientific education was
looked at with suspicion; and particularly they sought to
prevent by all means the exploration of the interior, as they
feared not only that the eyes of the natives might be opened
to their mode of administration, but also that such travellers
might side with the Spaniards in their long dispute regarding
the boundaries of the two nations, as the French astronomer,
La Condamine, had done. This question, which arose shortly
after the discovery, and was hushed up only during the short
union of both crowns (from 1581-1640), broke out with renewed
vigor now and then, maugre the Treaty of Tordesilhas in 1494
[see AMERICA: A. D. 1494]. … By the Treaty of Sao Ildefonso,
in 1777, both parties having long felt how impracticable the
old arrangements were—at least, for their American
colonies—the boundaries were fixed upon the principle of the
'uti possidetis,' at any rate so far as the imperfect
knowledge of the interior allowed; but this effort also proved
to be vain. … The unsolved question descended as an evil
heritage to their respective heirs, Brazil and the South
American Republics. A few years ago it gave rise to the
terrible war with Paraguay; and it will lead to fresh
conflicts between Brazil and the Argentine Republic."

_F. Keller,
The Amazon and Madeira Rivers,
pages 23-24._

ALSO IN:
_R. Southey,
History of Brazil,
volume 3._

BRAZIL: A. D. 1713.
The Portuguese title confirmed.

See UTRECHT: A. D. 1712-1714.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1759.
Expulsion of the Jesuits.

See JESUITS: A. D. 1757-1773.

BRAZIL: A. D. 1808-1822.
Becomes the asylum of Portuguese royalty.
The founding of the independent Empire.