216 chapters
10 hour read
Selected Chapters
216 chapters
Abbeville, Treaty of.
Abbeville, Treaty of.
A treaty between the English Barons and Louis IX of France, signed in 1259, shortly after the establishment in England of the Council of Fifteen. By its provisions England retained Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Gascony, and surrendered all claim to Normandy, Anjou, Poitou, and Maine. The French king agreed to supply a sum of money sufficient to maintain for two years five hundred knights, to be employed for the benefit of England or of the Church....
21 minute read
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Abecedarians.
Abecedarians.
A branch of the Anabaptists, founded in Germany in the sixteenth century by Stork, a disciple of Luther. They held that all human knowledge was valueless, and therefore declined to learn even the alphabet....
9 minute read
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Abencerrages.
Abencerrages.
A noble Moorish family of Granada, in the fifteenth century. They were accused by a rival family, the Zegris, of plotting against Abdallah, King of Granada, and were lured into the Alhambra, where they were barbarously massacred. Thirty-six members of the family perished....
12 minute read
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Abhorrers.
Abhorrers.
Another name for the Tories in the reign of Charles II. They were so called from their use of the word in their addresses to the king, protesting against the petitions in favour of summoning a Parliament in 1679....
11 minute read
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Abingdon Law.
Abingdon Law.
Execution first and trial afterwards. The phrase is derived from the methods adopted by Major-General Brown, of the Commonwealth Army, at Abingdon, during the Civil War. It was his habit, it is said, to deal in this fashion with Malignants who fell into his hands....
13 minute read
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Abjuration, Act of (England).
Abjuration, Act of (England).
An Act passed in 1702, imposing upon all who took office under the State, an oath abjuring the House of Stuart, and binding them to support each successor to the throne named in the Act of Settlement....
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Abjuration, Act of (Netherlands).
Abjuration, Act of (Netherlands).
The declaration of independence made at The Hague in 1581 by the deputies of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, deposing Philip II. It did not, however, substitute any other form of government....
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Abo, Treaty of.
Abo, Treaty of.
A treaty between Russia and Sweden, signed in 1743, after the surrender of the Swedish army at Helsingfors. Russia acquired Finland, as far as the river Kiümer, and secured the election of Adolphus Frederick of Holstein as Crown Prince of Sweden, in the place of the Prince Royal of Denmark....
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Abolitionists.
Abolitionists.
The extreme anti-slavery party in the United States, in 1860. They demanded the total abolition of slavery, and would agree to no compromise with the South, even at the cost of civil war....
9 minute read
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Absentee Tax.
Absentee Tax.
A tax imposed upon absentee landlords in Ireland, in the reign of Richard II. An attempt was made to reimpose it in 1773, but unsuccessfully, mainly owing to the opposition of Edmund Burke....
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Academic Legion.
Academic Legion.
A body of armed students who took an active part in the revolutionary disturbances in Vienna in 1848....
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Acte Additionel.
Acte Additionel.
A proclamation by Napoleon, on his return from Elba in 1815, in which he accepted, with some slight modifications, the Charte of Louis XVIII....
8 minute read
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Adam Kok, Treaty with.
Adam Kok, Treaty with.
A treaty made with Adam Kok, a Griqua chief, by Sir Peregrine Maitland in 1845. One of its provisions, which later caused considerable trouble in the Orange River Sovereignty, prevented the alienation of land by the Griquas to Europeans over a considerable portion of Kok’s territory. The treaty was denounced by Great Britain in 1856 after the Convention of Bloemfontein....
17 minute read
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Addled Parliament.
Addled Parliament.
A Parliament summoned by James I, in 1615. An attempt by certain of its members, who were dubbed the Undertakers, to control it in the interests of the Court, failed signally, and the king promptly dissolved it....
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Adendorff Trek.
Adendorff Trek.
A threatened trek of a large number of Transvaal Boers, under a leader named Adendorff, into Mashonaland, in 1891. Sir Henry Loch raised a protest, on the ground that the trek would be an infringement of the Swaziland Convention of 1890, and an act of hostility towards Great Britain, whereupon President Kruger issued a proclamation forbidding all Transvaal burghers to take part in the movement....
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Adis Ababa, Treaty of.
Adis Ababa, Treaty of.
A treaty signed May 15, 1902, between Great Britain and Ethiopia (Abyssinia). It provides for the rectification and delimitation of the frontier between Abyssinia and the Soudan. The Negus undertakes not to sanction any damming of the Sobat or the Blue Nile without the consent of Great Britain, grants a lease of a tract of country on the Baro river, for the formation of a commercial entrepôt , and gives Great Britain the right to connect Uganda and the Soudan by a railway running through Abyssin
31 minute read
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Adjutators.
Adjutators.
Delegates elected by each regiment of the Parliamentary Army in 1647, to act with the officers in placing their demands and grievances before Parliament prior to disbandment....
7 minute read
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Admonition.
Admonition.
A document issued by Thomas Cartwright, the leader of the Puritans, in 1572, demanding the establishment of Presbyterianism, as being a divine institution....
6 minute read
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Admonition, Cardinal Allen’s.
Admonition, Cardinal Allen’s.
A pamphlet addressed to the “Nobility and People of England,” bringing a series of scandalous charges against Queen Elizabeth, issued by Cardinal Allen in 1588....
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Adonis of Fifty.
Adonis of Fifty.
A nickname of George IV....
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Adrian, Bull of.
Adrian, Bull of.
A bull issued by Adrian IV, in 1156, granting the sovereignty of Ireland to Henry II, in return for his undertaking to support the Papal authority, and to pay Peter’s Pence....
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Adrianople, Treaty of.
Adrianople, Treaty of.
A treaty between Russia and Turkey, signed in 1829, following the capture by Russia of the fortresses of Varna, Silistria, and Adrianople. It gave Russia control over the mouths of the Danube, and the appointment of protector of the privileges of Moldavia and Wallachia....
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Adriatic, Marriage of the.
Adriatic, Marriage of the.
An ancient ceremony celebrated yearly at Venice on Ascension Day, and typifying the greatness of Venice as a maritime power. The Doge was conveyed in his state barge to the sea, and threw into the water a consecrated ring. The ceremony was established in 1174 by Pope Alexander III, in memory of the victory of the Venetians over the fleet of Barbarossa....
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Adscriptus Glebæ.
Adscriptus Glebæ.
A person who was compelled to remain on his lord’s estate. The condition of a villein or serf in feudal times....
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Adullamites.
Adullamites.
A small section of the Liberal party, headed by Mr. Lowe (Lord Sherbrooke) who opposed Mr. Gladstone’s Reform Bill of 1866. The name had its origin in a speech of John Bright, who likened the malcontents to those who took refuge in the Cave of Adullam. The term “cave” is now applied to any small knot of dissentients within the ranks of one of the great political parties....
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Adventurers of 1642.
Adventurers of 1642.
The gentlemen and others who had advanced money to the Government during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, to be repaid by grants of forfeited land. In 1653 these claims were recognized by grants in various parts of Leinster and Munster....
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Afrancesados.
Afrancesados.
The partizans of Napoleon in Spain and the Spanish Colonies....
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Afrikander Bond.
Afrikander Bond.
An organization formed in Cape Colony in 1881, with the avowed object of securing for the Afrikanders a larger share of political power. Its moving Spirit was Mr. Hofmeyr, a member of the Cape Ministry. It has taken a leading part in Cape politics, generally in opposition to British rule, and during the Boer war of 1899-1902 gave strong evidence of disloyalty....
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Agraviados.
Agraviados.
The Catalan insurgents, in 1825, called themselves the Agraviados, or men with a grievance....
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Agrarian League.
Agrarian League.
A league formed in Berlin in 1893, to advocate bimetalism and a return to protection. In the latter portion of its programme, it has had considerable success....
8 minute read
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Agricultural Alliance Bill.
Agricultural Alliance Bill.
The name given to a bill passed by the Prussian Parliament in 1896, at the instigation of the Agricultural Alliance. It prohibited time bargains in corn, mining shares, etc., and provided for the regulation of the Berlin Bourse, Corn Exchange, and other Exchanges, by a committee under a Government official. To escape these vexatious restrictions, the produce brokers deserted the Exchange and formed a Free Commercial Union, meeting in another building to carry on their business....
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Aids.
Aids.
Taxes levied on their feudatories by the English kings, prior to Magna Charta. By that instrument, however, it was provided that they were to be granted only by the Great Council, except in three specified cases: the delivery of the king from prison, the knighting of the king’s eldest son, or the marriage of his eldest daughter....
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Aigun, Convention of.
Aigun, Convention of.
A treaty between Russia and China, signed in 1858, by which Russia obtained all the territory eastward of the Ussuri river to the Japan Sea, and fixed her southern boundary at the frontier of Corea....
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Aix-la-Chapelle, Congress of.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Congress of.
A congress held in 1818, and attended by plenipotentiaries from Great Britain, Prussia, Austria and Russia, to arrange for the evacuation of France by the army of occupation, and the readmission of France, as one of the Great Powers, to the Councils of Europe....
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Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of.
A treaty between the Triple Alliance (England, Holland and Sweden) and Louis XIV of France, signed in May, 1668. Spain, which acceded to the Treaty, received Franche Comté from France, and surrendered certain frontier towns, including Lille, Courtray, and Tournay. The Triple Alliance were thus enabled to checkmate Louis’ designs in the Low Countries....
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Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of.
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of.
A treaty signed by England, France, Austria, Spain, and Holland, in 1748, putting an end to the War of the Austrian Succession. Territorially, its provisions in the main amounted to a return to the status quo ante , but it was provided that the Pretender should be expelled from France, that Spain should renew the Asiento treaty with England, and that Austria was to receive the acknowledgment by the signatories of the Duke of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa, as Emperor, in return for the cessi
26 minute read
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Akerman, Treaty of.
Akerman, Treaty of.
A treaty between Russia and Turkey, supplementary to the Treaty of Bucharest, signed in 1826. It provided that the Hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia should rule independently, each with a council of Boyars, and should not be deposed without the Czar’s consent; that Servia should elect her own princes, and that Russia should occupy the East coast of the Black Sea, and should have free access to all Turkish waters....
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Alabama.
Alabama.
A privateer fitted out in England during the American Civil War, to prey upon the commerce of the Northern States. After the war the United States made an enormous claim for compensation, which was submitted to arbitration, with the result that England was condemned to pay about three and a half millions sterling....
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Alais, Treaty of.
Alais, Treaty of.
A treaty between the Catholics and the Huguenots in France, signed in 1629, after the fall of La Rochelle. By this treaty the Huguenots were finally deprived of their political rights....
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Alaric Cottin.
Alaric Cottin.
A sobriquet of Frederick the Great of Prussia, given him by Voltaire. It infers that he was a great soldier but a very poor poet....
7 minute read
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Alascans.
Alascans.
The name given to the foreign Protestant refugees in England during the reign of Edward VI. The name is derived from Laski, the superintendent of foreign church communities....
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Alaska Purchase.
Alaska Purchase.
By a treaty between the United States and Russia, in 1867, the latter Power surrendered all her possessions on the continent of the United States, together with the Probyloff Islands, in consideration of a payment of 7,200,000 dols....
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Alaska Treaty.
Alaska Treaty.
A treaty between Great Britain and the United States, signed in 1903, by which it was agreed to submit the question of the boundary between Alaska and Canada to a commission of six jurists, three to be nominated by each side. This question had been pending since the cession of Alaska to the United States by Russia in 1867, the doubt as to the true frontier arising from the very indefinite terms of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1825....
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Albanian League.
Albanian League.
A league founded by the Porte in 1880, to oppose the aspirations of Montenegro towards an increase of territory. In 1887 the league presented to the Sultan a petition for autonomy, under an Albanian governor, and receiving no answer, rose in rebellion. The outbreak, however, was easily suppressed....
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Albany Regency.
Albany Regency.
A coterie of Democrats who from 1820 to 1854 exercised a controlling influence over the politics of New York State, and had consequently considerable power in national politics. Their headquarters were at Albany....
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Albigenses.
Albigenses.
A sect of dissenters from the Romish doctrine, settled in the South of France, under the protection of Raymond, Count of Toulouse, their name being derived from the town of Albi. Innocent III organised a crusade against them in 1215, under the leadership of Simon de Montfort, and at the siege of Béziers it is estimated that 15,000 Albigenses were put to the sword. They nevertheless held out until 1229, when Raymond capitulated, and the Inquisition was established in Toulouse. The sect, though di
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Alcantara, Knights of.
Alcantara, Knights of.
A Spanish order of religious chivalry, established in 1177, and directed against Mohammedanism....
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Ale Conner.
Ale Conner.
An official appointed annually the Court-Leet to test and examine the ale sold in the borough, and to prosecute dishonest vendors....
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Alexander of Bulgaria, Abduction of.
Alexander of Bulgaria, Abduction of.
A conspiracy of the pro-Russian party in Bulgaria, in 1886. Prince Alexander, whose policy was to free his country from Russian influence, was kidnapped by some Bulgarian officers, and carried off in his yacht to Russian territory. An attempt was then made to establish a pro-Russian government under M. Zankoff, but the sympathies of the Bulgarians were with the Prince, and M. Stambuloff set up a Council of Regency, and demanded his return. The Prince came back, but with nerves completely shatter
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Alexander of the North.
Alexander of the North.
A sobriquet of Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718)....
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Alexander, The Albanian.
Alexander, The Albanian.
Iskander Beg (George Castriot, 1404-1467) was so called....
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Alexander, The English.
Alexander, The English.
A sobriquet of Henry V....
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Alexander Newski, Order of.
Alexander Newski, Order of.
A Russian order of knighthood, founded by Peter the Great in 1722....
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Alien Act.
Alien Act.
An act passed in 1793, to deal with the enormous influx of foreigners into England, due to the French Revolution. Aliens were required to state the object of their visit, to register their names, and to obtain passports for moving to and fro....
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Alien and Sedition Laws.
Alien and Sedition Laws.
A series of Acts of Congress passed in 1798, to deal with the situation caused by the residence in the United States of a large number of naturalized Frenchmen who sympathized with France in the difficulties then pending between the two countries. They gave the President the power to banish undesirable aliens. They were very unpopular, and were, in fact, never enforced with any stringency, but are noticeable as having led to the first declaration of States Rights, Kentucky and Virginia declaring
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Aliwal North, First Treaty of.
Aliwal North, First Treaty of.
A treaty, signed in 1858 between the Orange Free State and Moshesh, the Basuto chief, through the mediation of Sir George Grey. This treaty rectified the frontier somewhat in favour of the Basutos, and made other provisions tending to the maintenance of peace....
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Aliwal North, Second Treaty of.
Aliwal North, Second Treaty of.
A treaty between Great Britain and the Orange Free State, signed in 1869, settling the boundary between the two contracting parties in Basutoland. After the annexation by Great Britain of the territories of Moshesh, the Orange Free State claimed the boundary line fixed by the treaty of Thaba Bosigo, while Great Britain claimed that in existence before the war of 1865. A compromise was eventually arrived at, and the frontier thus fixed is that at present existing between the Orange River Colony a
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All Red Cable.
All Red Cable.
A cable route from England to Australia, touching only British soil, projected by the Ottawa Conference in 1894. The scheme met with the approval and support of the Imperial Parliament, and the cable was completed in 1902....
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Allgemeines Landrecht.
Allgemeines Landrecht.
The Prussian Code of Law, amplified from the Landrecht of Frederick the Great....
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Alliance Society.
Alliance Society.
A political association formed in Belgium in 1897, with the object of uniting the different branches of the Liberal Party....
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Allodial Lands.
Allodial Lands.
Among the Franks, lands held in absolute proprietorship, as opposed to lands held as fiefs, and dependent upon a superior. They were subject to no burden, except the call to arms for national defence, and passed at death to all the children equally, or, failing issue, to the next of kin....
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Alte Fritz.
Alte Fritz.
Frederick the Great of Prussia is constantly referred to by this sobriquet....
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Althing.
Althing.
The general assembly of the Norsemen. ( See also Thing.)...
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Alumbrados.
Alumbrados.
A sect of mystics, founded in Spain about 1520, the forerunners of the better known Illuminati of Germany. They were finally suppressed by the Inquisition....
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Amalfitan Code.
Amalfitan Code.
A code of maritime law, drawn up during the First Crusade by the mercantile community of Amalfi. It is the oldest known maritime code....
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Amboise, Conspiracy of.
Amboise, Conspiracy of.
A plot on the part of Condé and the Bourbons, in 1560, to seize the Guises, and the King, Francis II, who was a mere puppet in their hands. The plot was discovered, and several of the leaders were executed....
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Amboise, Convention of.
Amboise, Convention of.
An agreement between Cathe rine de’ Medici and the Huguenots in 1563, after the first civil war, by which the Huguenots were allowed the free exercise of their religion....
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Amboyna, Massacre of.
Amboyna, Massacre of.
The murder of ten Englishmen, in the employment of the India Company, at the Dutch factory of Amboyna in 1623....
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America Act.
America Act.
An Act passed in 1775, consolidating all the previous penal acts relating to the American Colonies. It declared that all American vessels were lawful prizes, and that all Americans captured in them, or elsewhere, could be forced to take service against America. Commissioners were appointed to receive the submission of the revolted colonies, but no provisions were made for the redress of grievances....
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America, Discovery of.
America, Discovery of.
According to the Norse Sagas, the discovery of America should be placed to the credit of the Vikings, who made five expeditions to the coast between 985 and 1011, the first being that of Eric the Red, who settled in Greenland in 986, and the most famous that of Thorfinn Karlsefne, about 1007. The rediscovery by Columbus took place in 1492....
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American Customs Act.
American Customs Act.
An Act passed in 1764, levying customs duties on goods imported into the American Colonies. These duties were to be levied for the benefit of England, and the proceeds thereof paid into the English Treasury. The assertion of this right to tax the Colonies for the benefit of the Mother Country may be considered the cause of the loss of the American Colonies....
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American-Japanese Treaty.
American-Japanese Treaty.
A treaty negotiated between the Shôgun and Commodore Perry on behalf of the United States in 1854, by which Japan opened the ports of Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki, and Hakodaté to foreign commerce. Foreigners had been excluded from Japan for 216 years before this date, with the exception of the Dutch, who however were strictly confined to their factory at Deshima....
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American-Spanish Treaty.
American-Spanish Treaty.
A treaty signed in 1898, at the close of the war, by which Spain surrendered her sovereign rights over Cuba, and ceded Porto Rico and her other West Indian possessions. The United States undertook to pay twenty million dollars for the Philippines and Sulu Islands, but did not assume any responsibility for the Cuban debt....
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Ami des Hommes.
Ami des Hommes.
A sobriquet of the Marquis de Mirabeau (1715-1789)....
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Ami du Peuple.
Ami du Peuple.
Jean Paul Marat, the French revolutionary leader, was known as the Friend of the People. It was also the title of the journal which he edited....
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Amiens, Award of.
Amiens, Award of.
The award of Louis IX of France, in 1264, in the dispute between Henry III of England and his Barons, which had been referred to the arbitration of the French King. He pronounced entirely in favour of the Crown, annulling the Provisions of Oxford, especially with regard to the King’s right to employ aliens as governors of his castles. Also known as the Mise of Amiens....
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Amiens, Peace of.
Amiens, Peace of.
A treaty signed by France and England, in 1801, after the defeat of the French army in Egypt. England restored all her conquests from France, Spain and Holland, excepting Ceylon and Trinidad. Both parties agreed to the evacuation of Egypt, and the independence of Portugal was guaranteed. This peace was of very short duration, England and France being at war again in 1803....
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Amistad Case.
Amistad Case.
The case of a Spanish slaver in 1839, in which the slaves had broken out and seized the ship. She was afterwards captured by a U.S. cruiser, and the Supreme Court declared that the seizure of the vessel by the slaves was not an act of piracy....
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Amour, Loi d’.
Amour, Loi d’.
The name ironically applied to a severely repressive measure against the Press, introduced in the French Chamber by Peyronnet in 1827....
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Amoureux, Guerre des.
Amoureux, Guerre des.
The name given to the war between Henry III and Henry of Navarre in 1580. It arose purely out of a court intrigue, and its only event of importance was the capture of Cahors by the Huguenots....
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Ampoule, La Sainte.
Ampoule, La Sainte.
The Holy Vase, containing the consecrated oil with which the French kings were anointed at their coronation at Reims. It was preserved in the Church of Saint Remi in that city....
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Anabaptists.
Anabaptists.
A fanatical sect which had its rise in Westphalia, early in the sixteenth century. In 1535 the Anabaptists seized the city of Münster, and under their leader Boccold, otherwise John of Leyden, who had arrogated to himself royal prerogatives, they held out for some time against the forces of the Bishop of Münster. They were, however, eventually overpowered, and their leaders put to death. Among other extreme doctrines, they advocated communism and polygamy....
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Anarchist Riots, Chicago.
Anarchist Riots, Chicago.
Riots arising out of the Labour agitation in Chicago in the spring of 1886. The Anarchists took advantage of the disturbed condition of the city, and in the course of a meeting which they summoned, a bomb was thrown at the police, which was followed by shooting. Sixty police were wounded. Seven of the rioters, mostly Germans, were convicted of murder....
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Ancients, Council of.
Ancients, Council of.
The second chamber of the French Directory (1794-1799). It was composed of 250 members....
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Ancon, Treaty of.
Ancon, Treaty of.
A treaty of peace between Chile and Peru, putting an end to the War of the Pacific, signed in 1883. Chile obtained by this treaty and one concluded shortly afterwards with Bolivia, the coast region of the latter state, and the district of Tarapaca in Peru. She further secured important concessions with regard to the guano deposits....
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Andrassy Note.
Andrassy Note.
A note of remonstrance prepared by Count Andrassy, the Austrian Foreign Minister, and addressed to the Porte in 1876 by the Powers signatory of the Treaty of Paris, insisting on Turkey fulfilling her engagements....
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Anes, Journée des.
Anes, Journée des.
The name given by the French to the defeat of the Papal Army, under the Duke of Urbino, near Bologna, on May 22, 1571, by the Bolognese and the French men-at-arms. The name was given to this battle on account of the enormous number of baggage animals captured....
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Anglo-Chinese Agreement, 1902.
Anglo-Chinese Agreement, 1902.
An agreement between Great Britain and China providing for the abolition of Likin , and an increase of duties at the port of entry, to compensate for the loss of revenue thus incurred. This agreement, however, can only come into operation if the other nations having commercial treaties with China agree to the increase of the import duties....
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Anglo-Dutch Treaty, 1872.
Anglo-Dutch Treaty, 1872.
A treaty by which Holland surrendered to Great Britain all her possessions on the Gold Coast....
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Anglo-French Agreement, 1896.
Anglo-French Agreement, 1896.
An agreement with respect to Siam, by which Great Britain agreed to the cession to France of Mongain, and a strip of territory, twenty-five kilometres wide, on the right bank of the Mekong. Both parties agreed not to invade the territory left to Siam by this arrangement, and it was further stipulated that any commercial privileges in Yunnan and Sze-Chuan accorded by China to either nation should be common to both....
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Anglo-German Agreement, 1890.
Anglo-German Agreement, 1890.
An agreement, fixing the limits of the spheres of influence of the two Powers in East, West, and South-West Africa, with the exception of the southern limit of Walfisch Bay, left open for further inquiry. The agreement further provided for the cession of Heligoland to Germany, and the recognition by the latter of Great Britain’s protectorate over Zanzibar....
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Anglo-German Agreement, 1900.
Anglo-German Agreement, 1900.
An agreement, also known as the Yang-tse Agreement, signed May 16, 1900, defining the policy of the two Powers in China. It was agreed to support the policy of the “Open Door,” and to permit free access for all nations to the ports, rivers and littorals where the signatories have influence; to refrain from seeking special territorial advantages, and to oppose the grant of such to other Powers, the right being reserved to concert measures in the event of such advantages being sought. Germany has
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Anglo-Italian Agreement, 1885.
Anglo-Italian Agreement, 1885.
An agreement by which Great Britain recognizes Italy’s rights to the East Coast of Africa between Massowah and Obock, and further agrees to give her her moral support in Tripoli. Italy in return undertakes the same friendly offices for Great Britain in Egypt....
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Anglo-Japanese Agreement, 1902.
Anglo-Japanese Agreement, 1902.
An agreement signed in London, January 30, 1902, by which the relations of the two Powers in the China seas are defined. It is provided that if one of the signatories be involved in war, in defence of her interests in these regions, the other shall maintain a strict neutrality, but that if the belligerent be attacked by a second Power, the other signatory shall join her ally, and that the war shall thenceforward be conducted in common, and peace made only by mutual agreement. It is further stipu
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Anglo-Japanese Treaty, 1895.
Anglo-Japanese Treaty, 1895.
A treaty between Great Britain and Japan, signed in 1895, abolishing extra-territorial jurisdiction in Japan for British subjects. Great Britain was thus the first European nation to acknowledge the entry of Japan into the comity of nations. The treaty became operative in 1899....
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Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, 1891.
Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, 1891.
Following the disturbances on the Mashonaland border, where a collision had taken place between Portuguese troops and British South African Police, an ultimatum was despatched to Portugal, demanding the withdrawal of her troops from the disputed territory. A treaty was subsequently signed delimiting the spheres of influence of the two Powers and declaring the navigation of the Shiré and the Zambesi open to all nations, while Portugal agreed to facilitate communication by these and other river an
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Anglo-Russian Convention, 1825.
Anglo-Russian Convention, 1825.
A convention by which it was agreed that both Powers should enjoy equal fishing rights in the Pacific Ocean. A line of demarcation was also drawn between Alaska and British Columbia, but it was never properly demarcated, and the vagueness of the boundary has been a fruitful source of dissension between England and the United States, probably to be ended by the Alaska Treaty of 1903....
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Ankarström’s Conspiracy.
Ankarström’s Conspiracy.
A conspiracy of Swedish nobles, headed by Counts Ribbing and Horn and Captain Ankarström, to assassinate Gustavus III of Sweden. Captain Ankarström, who had a personal grievance against the king, shot him at a masquerade in the Opera House at Stockholm on March 16, 1792....
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Annates.
Annates.
The first year’s income of a benefice, claimed as tribute by the Popes. This and all other tributes to the Roman See were abolished in England in the reign of Henry VIII. by the Annates Act, passed in 1534....
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Annunziata.
Annunziata.
An Italian order of knighthood, holding the third place (after the Garter and the Golden Fleece) among the orders of chivalry. It was founded by Amadeus V of Savoy in 1362, and has been twice remodelled, namely, by Charles III in 1518, and by Victor Emmanuel in 1869. It is restricted to twenty members, exclusive of royal knights....
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Annus Mirabilis.
Annus Mirabilis.
The year 1666, famous in English history for two decisive victories over the Dutch fleet, and for the Great Fire of London. Dryden’s poem of this name commemorates these events....
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Anti-Corn Law League.
Anti-Corn Law League.
An association founded in Manchester in 1838, to work for the repeal of the Corn Laws, which imposed heavy duties on imported corn. Its leaders were Richard Cobden and Charles Villiers. The agitation bore fruit in 1846, in which year the Act repealing the Corn Laws was passed....
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Antigone, The Modern.
Antigone, The Modern.
Marie Thérèse, the daughter of Louis XVI, was so called....
3 minute read
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Anti-Parnellites.
Anti-Parnellites.
The majority of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who deposed Mr. Parnell from the leadership, after the O’Shea divorce case, at the bidding of Mr. Gladstone and the Irish Bishops....
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Anti-Remonstrants.
Anti-Remonstrants.
A party among the Irish Catholics, who declined to sign the Petition of Remonstrance, drawn up by Peter Walsh, in 1666, protesting against the belief prevalent in England that toleration of Catholicism was incompatible with the safety of the State....
11 minute read
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Anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitism.
An anti-Jewish crusade which broke out in Eastern Europe in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It was especially virulent in Russia and Austria, while in Germany an Anti-Semitic League was formed in Berlin in 1880, to “prevent the Judification of Germany.” The Judenhetze, as it was called, was carried to such lengths as to call for the interference of the Emperor. Still later the crusade against the Jews extended to France, where the anti-Semitic party is strong. As a consequence of this
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Anti-Slavery Society.
Anti-Slavery Society.
A society formed at Philadelphia in 1833, under the presidency of William Lloyd Garrison, to work for the abolition of slavery in the United States. It was dissolved in 1870, having accomplished its object....
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Anziani.
Anziani.
The Council of the Ancients of Florence, established about the middle of the thirteenth century, to control all matters relating to the government the State. It consisted of fourteen leading citizens....
9 minute read
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Apologie of William of Orange.
Apologie of William of Orange.
A justification of his actions, presented by William of Orange to the States-General of Holland in 1580, in reply to the proscription edict of Philip II. The States declared Philip’s charges against the Prince to be without foundation....
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Appanages (France).
Appanages (France).
The provision made for the younger sons of the French Kings. It consisted of feudal lands held by the Crown....
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Appanages (Russia).
Appanages (Russia).
The Russian Imperial estates are so called....
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Apparel, Statutes of.
Apparel, Statutes of.
A series of sumptuary laws, passed about 1540, regulating the dress of the labouring and farming classes....
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Appeals, Act of.
Appeals, Act of.
An Act passed in 1533, under Henry VIII, declaring the Church of England capable of dealing with its own spiritual questions, and forbidding appeals to any dignitary higher than the Archbishop....
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Apprentices, Statute of.
Apprentices, Statute of.
A statute of Elizabeth, passed in 1563, by which no person was permitted to exercise a trade in England unless he had previously served an apprenticeship to it of seven years....
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Apprenticeship (Transvaal).
Apprenticeship (Transvaal).
This question was much debated in England in the early seventies, some people alleging that the apprenticeship of black children was a covert form of slavery, especially as indentures were transferable before a landdrost. On the annexation of the country in 1877, however, it was found that the charge was quite groundless....
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Arabi’s Rebellion.
Arabi’s Rebellion.
This revolt arose originally from a quarrel between the Circassian and the Arab officers of the Egyptian Army in 1881. Three Arab colonels, one of them Arabi, headed a successful mutiny, demanding a change at the Ministry of War, which was controlled entirely by the Circassians. Later in the year further trouble arose, and Arabi, supported by the whole army, obtained the appointment of Under Secretary, and subsequently that of War Minister. By June, 1882, he was practically a military dictator,
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Aragon, Privilege of.
Aragon, Privilege of.
A charter granted to the nobles of Aragon by Alfonso III in 1287. It gave them a constitutional right to federate against the king, if he infringed their immunities, and at need to depose him and elect a successor. The Privilege was withdrawn by Pedro IV in 1348....
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Arbitration Court.
Arbitration Court.
See Hague Congress....
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Arbitrations.
Arbitrations.
See Alabama, Amiens, Behring Sea, Caroline Islands, Keate, San Juan, Venezuela....
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Argonauts of Forty-nine.
Argonauts of Forty-nine.
The name given to the early settlers in California after the discovery of gold in 1849. They are also called Fortyniners....
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Arima, Rebellion of.
Arima, Rebellion of.
A rising of his dependents against the Daimio of Arima, which was joined by a large number of Japanese Christians. The rebels were finally subdued in 1658, the Shôgun having had recourse to the Dutch for help, and the result was the complete suppression of Christianity in Japan....
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Arkansas Civil War.
Arkansas Civil War.
A dispute, in 1874, between the factions of Brooks and Baxter, each of whom claimed to be the duly elected Governor of Arkansas and was backed by an armed force, dignified by the name of the State Militia. It was found necessary to call out United States troops, whereupon Baxter relieved the situation by withdrawing....
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Armagh, Synod of.
Armagh, Synod of.
A Synod of the Irish Prelates, held in 1170, at which, in view of the threatened English invasion, it was resolved to release all English captives held in slavery....
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Armagnac War.
Armagnac War.
The war between Frederick III of Germany and the Swiss in 1444, so called because Frederick’s forces were principally composed of mercenaries who had been engaged in the French civil war on the Armagnac side....
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Armagnacs.
Armagnacs.
The party of the Orleans Princes in the French civil war, which broke out in 1410, during the reign of the imbecile Charles VI. Their opponents, the Burgundians, succeeded in obtaining possession of Paris by treachery in 1418, and the Armagnac leaders were captured and thrown into prison. The Paris mob, always hostile to this party, broke into the prisons and murdered all the prisoners. In this affair, which is known as the Massacre of the Armagnacs, it is said that 3,500 persons perished, inclu
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Armatoli.
Armatoli.
A body of Greek mercenaries in the service of the Sultans of Turkey from the fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries....
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Armed Neutrality.
Armed Neutrality.
A league of the northern nations of Europe, formed under the leadership of Prussia and Russia in 1870, to contest the right of search exercised by British ships of war over neutrals. The contentions of the league were that the flag covers the merchandise, except in the case of contraband of war, and that a blockade must be effective to be respected....
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Armenian Massacres.
Armenian Massacres.
In 1895 and 1896 terrible massacres of the Armenians took place in Anatolia, at the hands of the Kurds, who were probably aided, and certainly not hindered, by the regular Turkish garrison. In 1896, on the ground that a dangerous conspiracy was on foot, the authorities connived at a massacre of Armenians in Constantinople, in which over two thousand are believed to have perished. This produced a strong joint protest from the Powers, followed by the re-establishment of some sem blance of order in
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Arminians.
Arminians.
The followers of Arminius, a Leyden professor, in the early part of the seventeenth century, who dissented from the strict Calvinism of the Dutch Protestants, and endeavoured to introduce a milder system. By a decree of the Synod of Dort, in 1618, the Arminian preachers were banished, while the Great Pensioner, Barneveldt, the chief lay supporter of the sect, was executed. The English High Church party in the reign of Charles I were sometimes called Arminians....
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Army Plot.
Army Plot.
An abortive conspiracy in the army, in 1641, under Wilmot, the Commissary-General, formed, with the connivance of Charles I, to overawe the Parliament. Goring, one of the ringleaders, becoming dissatisfied, betrayed the plot to Pym, but by that time the conspirators had already decided against active measures....
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Army Purchase.
Army Purchase.
The system of purchase of commissions in the army was abolished by an Act of Parliament introduced by Mr. Cardwell in 1871....
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Arrabiati.
Arrabiati.
The party of the Medici, during the existence of the Florentine Republic, established in 1493....
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Arras, Congress of.
Arras, Congress of.
The first instance of a congress of the European Powers, held at Arras in 1435. All the leading States were represented, and an attempt was made to settle the peace of Europe, but the rival claims of France and England, the two countries most immediately concerned, proved irreconcilable, and no solution was arrived at....
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Arras, Treaty of.
Arras, Treaty of.
During the Congress of Arras, in 1435, France succeeded in detaching Burgundy from the English alliance, and a treaty was signed by which the Duke of Burgundy acknowledged the sovereignty of Charles VII, but stipulated that he himself should be freed from personal homage during his own and Charles’ lifetime. In return his claim was admitted to the Boulonnais, and he received Mâcon, Arcis-sur-Aube and Auxerre. Burgundy renounced the English alliance, and France that of the Emperor....
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Arrière Fief.
Arrière Fief.
Land held by the vassal of a vassal is an arrière fief of the overlord....
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Artels.
Artels.
Associations of workmen in Russia, living and working together, and dividing the profits of each job. They are sometimes of a temporary nature and sometimes more nearly resembling a guild, as in the case of the bank porters, where the association is responsible to the employers for the acts of its members....
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Articles.
Articles.
See Eleven, Five, Forty-two, Henry, Lambeth, Louvain, Nine, Schmalkald, Six, Ten, Thirty-nine, Thirty-three....
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Articles, Lords of the.
Articles, Lords of the.
The Committee which prepared measures to be submitted to the Scottish Parliament was so called....
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Articles of Henry.
Articles of Henry.
See Pacta Conventa....
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Articles of Prague.
Articles of Prague.
The confession of faith of the Hussites, issued by John Zisca in 1420....
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Articuli super Cartas.
Articuli super Cartas.
Twenty clauses added to Magna Charta, when it was confirmed by Edward I during the Parliament of 1300. The most important are those dealing with purveyance, the jurisdiction of the officers of the Crown, and the jury system....
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Arya Somaj.
Arya Somaj.
A Hindu sect founded by Dayânandu Sarasvati (died 1882). While reforming many of the grosser superstitions of the Brahminical faith, its followers still hold by the doctrinal teachings of the Vedas....
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Aschaffenburg, Concordat of.
Aschaffenburg, Concordat of.
An agreement between the Emperor Ferdinand III and Pope Nicholas V, in 1448, regulating the Papal rights in ecclesiastical matters in Germany. The Pope surrendered the right of appointing arbitrarily to all benefices, but retained it for those falling in during each alternate six months. He retained the annates, and gave the chapters the right of electing to bishoprics, except in the case of translations, or of the appointment of some notoriously unfit person....
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Ashbourne’s Act, Lord.
Ashbourne’s Act, Lord.
See Irish Land Act, 1885....
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Ashburton Treaty.
Ashburton Treaty.
A treaty between England and the United States, signed in 1842, finally settling the boundary line between Canada and the States. This treaty is also known as the Treaty of Washington....
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Asiento.
Asiento.
The right to trade in slaves with the American Colonies was claimed by Spain, and was at different periods granted by treaty to France or to England. The permission thus granted was known as the Asiento....
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Assassination Plot.
Assassination Plot.
A Jacobite plot in 1696, to assassinate William III. He was to be shot while returning from hunting in Richmond Forest. It is probable that James was privy to it, but the actual ringleader was Sir George Barclay. The plot was discovered, and several of the leaders convicted and executed....
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Assassins.
Assassins.
The followers of the Old Man of the Mountain, Hassan ben Sabah, who founded the sect on the borders of the Caspian Sea about 1090. The motto of the Society was “To the faithful nothing is forbidden,” and its adherents were guilty of the foulest murders. Among its other well-known victims was Conrad of Montferrat, in 1192....
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Assertion of the Seven Sacraments.
Assertion of the Seven Sacraments.
The book written by Henry VIII against Luther, which procured for him from Leo X the title of Defender of the Faith....
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Assignats.
Assignats.
An issue of paper money authorized by the French National Assembly in December, 1789, secured on the lands and buildings of the church, which were to be confiscated and sold. They were largely forged by Royalists and others, and went to an extraordinary discount; thus in February, 1796, a gold louis of 20 francs was worth on the Paris Bourse 5,300 francs in assignats....
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Assize of Arms.
Assize of Arms.
A reorganization of the old Militia of England, carried out by Henry II in 1181....
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Assize of Bread.
Assize of Bread.
An ordinance of Henry III of England in 1266, regulating the prices to be charged by bakers, in accordance with the fluctuations in the value of corn....
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Assize of Clarendon.
Assize of Clarendon.
An ordinance issued by Henry II in 1166, to provide for the trial of criminal cases in the Shire Courts. It was ordained that twelve men should be selected from each hundred, and four from each township, to determine whether there were any criminals in their district, and if so to present them for trial. This is the origin of the Grand Jury system. This Assize also abolished trial by compurgation....
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Assize of Northampton.
Assize of Northampton.
An ordinance issued by Henry II in 1176, confirming and strengthening the Assize of Clarendon....
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Assize of Woodstock.
Assize of Woodstock.
An ordinance issued by Henry II in 1184, containing regulations for the government of the royal forests. Many of the rules were very oppressive, and were considerably modified by the Charter of Forests, in 1217....
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Association, The.
Association, The.
A bond drawn up by the Council and nobles of England in 1584, whereby the signatories bound themselves to take arms against all who should attempt to harm the person of Queen Elizabeth. It was signed by Catholics and Protestants alike, and Parliament was speedily summoned to endorse it....
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Association, The.
Association, The.
A union of the Eastern counties, formed in 1643, with the object of keeping the civil war beyond its borders....
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Association Treaty.
Association Treaty.
A treaty, signed in 1682, between Holland, Sweden, the Emperor and certain German Princes, pledging the signatories to defend the treaties of Utrecht and Nimeguen. It provided that any of the contracting parties accused of violating the provisions of these treaties should submit the matter to the arbitration of the other signatories, who, in the event of his refusal, agreed to unite against him in arms. Similar provisions were agreed to to meet the case of a non-signatory power violating the pea
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Associations Act, Ireland.
Associations Act, Ireland.
An Act passed in 1826, directed mainly against the Catholic Association. It restricted the right of meeting of political associations, and forbade the levying of subscriptions or the administration of oaths....
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Associations Law, 1833.
Associations Law, 1833.
A law passed by the French Government in 1833, forbidding any association, even literary or religious, to exist without Government authorization....
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Associations Law, 1901.
Associations Law, 1901.
A law passed by the French Assembly in 1901, requiring all religious associations engaged in teaching or charitable work to apply to the Government for authorization. It was specially aimed at associations like the Assumptionist Fathers, who had taken an active part in politics in opposition to the Government. In 1902 the law was strenuously enforced by M. Combes, the French Premier, against many harmless communities of nuns and others engaged in teaching, causing serious disturbances in Brittan
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Assurance, The.
Assurance, The.
A form of oath exacted in Scotland after the accession of William III from all persons holding positions of trust. It set forth that William was King not only de facto but de jure and by just title, and was intended to discriminate, in the Church, between those Episcopalians who were at heart Jacobites, and those who were honestly ready to accept the new régime. About a hundred Episcopalian divines took the oath, and were permitted to retain their benefices....
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Assured Lords.
Assured Lords.
The Scottish lords captured at Solway Moss, and allowed to return to Scotland under the obligation to further the interests of Henry VIII, in 1542. Among them were the Earl of Angus, Lords Cassilis, Glencairn, and Maxwell....
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Assysthement.
Assysthement.
The ancient Scottish law of the assessment of the value of a life, to be paid by the murderer....
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Astor Place Riot.
Astor Place Riot.
A serious riot in New York in 1849, arising out of a dispute between Macready, the English actor, and Edwin Forest, the American actor. A mob of 20,000 men attacked the Astor Place Opera House, where Macready was playing in “Macbeth,” and it was found necessary to call out the troops in order to quell the disturbance....
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Ataman.
Ataman.
The chief of a community of Cossacks. The office was elective....
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Ateliers Nationaux.
Ateliers Nationaux.
Government workshops established in Paris in 1848 to provide work for the unemployed. Within the year the workers rose against the Government, and erected barricades in the streets of Paris. They were, however, promptly suppressed by General Cavaignac, and their leaders arrested and condemned to transportation....
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Attainder, Act of.
Attainder, Act of.
An Act passed by the Irish Parliament, summoned by James after the landing of William III in England in 1689. The Act contained a list of between two and three thousand names, and was made the vehicle of many private vengeances....
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Attalik Ghazi.
Attalik Ghazi.
The title bestowed on Yakoub Beg, the leader of the revolt against China in Kashgar in 1870. The revolt was suppressed in 1877, after the death of Yakoub Beg....
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Atterbury’s Plot.
Atterbury’s Plot.
A Jacobite plot to depose George I in 1722, and to place the old Pretender, James Edward, on the throne. The ringleaders were Lord Orrery, Lord North, Lord Gower, and Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester. The plot included a plan for an expedition under James and Lord Ormonde, to sail from Spain. The scheme, however, was disclosed to the British Minister in Paris, and the leaders, including Atterbury, were arrested....
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Audiencias.
Audiencias.
The final courts of appeal in South America, under Spanish rule. They were eleven in number, and in addition to their judicial functions, acted as advisory boards to the Viceroys and Captains-General....
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Augmentations, Court of.
Augmentations, Court of.
A Court appointed by Henry VIII, after the dissolution of the monasteries, to deal with all questions arising out of the confiscation of the Church Lands....
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Augsburg, Confession of.
Augsburg, Confession of.
A statement of the Protestant doctrine drawn up by Melancthon at the Diet of Augsburg, in 1529....
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Augsburg, League of.
Augsburg, League of.
A league between the Emperor, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Bavaria, and the circles of Suabia and Franconia, formed in 1682, to preserve the peace of Europe against the encroachments of Louis XIV. The war, which began in 1688 and was ended by the Peace of Ryswick in 1697, is known as the War of the League of Augsburg....
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Augsburg, Peace of.
Augsburg, Peace of.
See Religious Peace....
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Aulic Council.
Aulic Council.
A tribunal established by the Emperor Maximilian I in 1501. It was reorganized by Rudolf II, to deal with questions arising out of the interpretation of the Peace of Augsburg, during the counter-reformation in Germany. The Council accompanied the Emperor, having no fixed place of meeting, and was almost entirely under the domination of the Court, and thoroughly Catholic in its tendencies....
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Ausculta Fili, Bull.
Ausculta Fili, Bull.
A bull, also known as the Greater Bull, issued by Pope Boniface VIII against Philip IV of France in 1302. It calls on Philip to cease his opposition to the claims of the Church, and reminds him that he holds his throne only by the goodwill of the Pope. The bull was publicly burnt in Philip’s presence....
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Ausgleich.
Ausgleich.
The agreement settling the economic relations between Austria and Hungary. The first Ausgleich was signed in 1867, for a period of ten years, and was renewed with slight variations in 1877 and 1887. The Austrian Reichsrath refused to sanction the Ausgleich of 1897, and it was promulgated by what is known as the Dictatorship paragraph of the Austrian Constitution, in other words by Imperial decree. In 1899 it was amended by the Szell formula, by which M. Szell, the Hungarian premier, stipulated t
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Austin Riots.
Austin Riots.
An outbreak of the Coloured League against the White League, at Austin, Mississippi, in 1874. Several sanguinary engagements took place, in which the blacks were worsted, and many killed....
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Austrägal Court.
Austrägal Court.
A court consisting of several members of the Germanic Confederation, convened to decide whether questions pending between one of the Confederated States and a foreign power could be taken up by the Confederation as a whole....
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Australasian League.
Australasian League.
A society established in Melbourne in 1851, under the auspices of the Rev. John West, to secure “by moral means only” the abolition of the transportation of convicts to any part of the Australasian continent....
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Australian Colonies Act.
Australian Colonies Act.
An Act passed in 1849, separating Victoria from New South Wales, and providing a constitution for the new colony, as well as for Tasmania, South Australia, and (subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions) Western Australia....
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Australian Commonwealth Act.
Australian Commonwealth Act.
An Act to give force to the Constitution drafted by Australian statesmen for the union into a Commonwealth of the Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania, power being reserved to New Zealand to enter the union if she so desire. The Act provides for the establishment of a central Government, with the control of the customs, postage, and certain other matters, each colony retaining its own Parliament, with power to manage its internal aff
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Austrian Succession, War of the.
Austrian Succession, War of the.
The war which broke out in 1741, in connexion with the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI. It was ended by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748....
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Auto de fe.
Auto de fe.
The Act of Faith, the name given to the ceremony which accompanied the execution of persons condemned for heresy by the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal. The last Auto de Fe took place at Valencia, in 1826....
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Avignon Captivity.
Avignon Captivity.
The period of seventy years during which the Popes resided at Avignon, practically in a condition of vassalage to the French Crown. It lasted from 1305 to 1377, or from the Papacy of Clement V to that of Gregory XI. It is also known as the Babylonish Captivity....
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Avignon, Reunion of.
Avignon, Reunion of.
From the time of the return of the Popes to Rome in 1377, until 1791, Avignon was, with certain short intervals, governed by Papal Legates. In the latter year, by a decree of the National Assembly, it was reunited to France, and this reunion was acknowledged by the Pope, by the Treaty of Tolentino in 1797....
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Ayankeeados.
Ayankeeados.
The name given by the Mexicans to the sympathizers with America during the Mexican War of 1846....
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B
B
A plot set on foot by Babington and a Jesuit, named Ballard, in 1585, to assassinate Queen Elizabeth. Letters secured by Walsingham were said to have proved the complicity of Mary Queen of Scots, and led to her imprisonment at Fotheringay, and subsequent trial and execution. See Avignon. An assembly of Delegates from the whole of Ireland, which met in Dublin in 1792. They prepared an address expressing their loyalty to the throne, and asking for the franchise. The Liberal Party in Virginia in 16
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C
C
A revolutionary song, highly popular in Paris, composed in 1789 for the Fête de la Fédération. The sacred shrine of Mecca, the holy place of the whole Moslem world. A Mohammedan who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca is known as a Hadji. The Ministry which succeeded to power when Charles II dismissed Clarendon in 1667. Its members were Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley (afterwards Lord Shaftesbury), and Lauderdale, the initials of these names forming the word “Cabal. ” A low intrigue in the
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D
D
The name given in India to brigandage or highway robbery. It was very prevalent in Burmah after the annexation. The great hereditary nobles of Japan. The principal Daimios, such as the Princes of Satsuma, Choshiu, Kaga, and some others, were almost in the position of independent sovereigns, though they owed a nominal allegiance to the Emperor, and in some cases to the Shôgun. The word, strictly Dai-miyo, signifies “Great Name.” The sovereign pontiff or spiritual ruler of Thibet. He is supposed t
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E
E
The constitution of England during the reign of Eadgar (959-975) when, under the virtual rule of Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, the various tribes of Saxons and Danes were united under one administration. Knut re-established Eadgar’s Law on his accession in 1016. Bertrand Duguesclin, Constable of France (died 1380), was so called. In Saxon times, a national officer, appointed by the king and council to control military affairs in the shire. He sat with the sheriff in the Shire Court. The nam
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F
F
The First Families of Virginia. The name given to the descendants of the adventurers who colonized Virginia under the Charter of 1606. George Washington was so called. A series of Acts providing for the inspection and regulation of factories in Great Britain. The first Act dealing with this question was the Cotton Industry Act of 1831, and further legislation took place in 1834, 1844, 1850, 1864, 1867, 1870, and 1874, some of these Acts relating to factories as a whole, and others to particular
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G
G
The Grand Old Man, the sobriquet of Mr. Gladstone. A tax on salt, imposed at various periods of French history. Towards the latter part of the eighteenth century it was a most burdensome impost and its incidence was most irregular. It was abolished in 1791. The name given in Central and South America to Spaniards and Spanish partizans during the war of independence. A purchase from Mexico by the United States for ten million dollars of a large tract of land now included in Arizona and New Mexico
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H
H
An Act of Parliament passed in 1679. Since Magna Charta every Englishman had theoretically the right to trial, and could demand a writ of Habeas Corpus, under which the duly constituted courts were bound to take cognisance of his case. In practice, however, various obstacles were from time to time opposed to the obtaining of this writ. The Act of 1679 ordered that a judge should at any time grant such a writ on application, and inflicted severe penalties on the gaoler who failed to obey it. The
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I
I
See Illicit Diamond Buying. This name was first given to the followers of Leo III, Emperor of the East, who in 726 interdicted the worship of images. The opposition of a considerable section of his subjects did not deter him from carrying his principles into effect, and what is known as the Iconoclast War was the result. The same title is applied to the more militant Huguenots in France in 1560 and 1561, who, wherever they obtained the upper hand, ruthlessly destroyed the statues which adorned t
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J
J
The supporters of the House of Stuart after their expulsion from Great Britain. The peasant rising in France in 1358 is so called from Jacques Bonhomme, the familiar name for a peasant. The revolt was most sanguinary, the peasants burning over 200 châteaux, and murdering indiscriminately all who refused to join them. Equally cruel reprisals followed the suppression of the insurrection. The massacre by Napoleon in 1799 of the Turkish garrison of Jaffa, who had surrendered as prisoners of war. A b
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K
K
The party of the towns, in the Netherlands, in the fourteenth century. The word signifies “Codfish-jaws,” and the opposing party, that of the nobles, was known as the “Hooks.” The German nickname for Napoleon. A document issued by Charles V curtailing the privileges of the city of Ghent. In the early eighties attention was attracted to the methods of the “Blackbirders,” or ships engaged in supplying Kanaka labourers for the Queensland sugar plantations. The captain of the Hopeful was brought to
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L
L
The revolution by which Queen Christina of Spain was compelled in 1836 to restore the constitution of 1812 which had been abrogated by Ferdinand. The name given to their opponents by the Hungarians under Tököli and Rákóczy in 1678 and 1704 respectively. It signifies the “foot people,” the Magyars being almost all mounted men. A labour organization founded at Columbus, Ohio, in 1886, and now claiming to have over 600,000 members. A statute passed in the reign of Edward III, after the Black Death
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M
M
The murder of a family named Joyce in Ireland in 1882. Ten men were put on their trial for the crime, of whom two turned Queen’s Evidence, and the remainder were convicted, three being hanged. In 1884 Casey, one of the informers, declared that he had given false evidence against Myles Joyce, one of the men who had been hanged, and that he had been ordered by the officials, on pain of capital punishment, to swear away this man’s life. A searching inquiry confirmed the justice of the sentence, but
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N
N
A controversy which arose over an allegation of the Roman Catholics, in 1599, that Archbishop Parker’s consecration, forty years previously, had taken place in the most informal manner at the Nag’s Head Tavern, in Cheapside. The statement was proved to be entirely devoid of foundation. A treaty between Great Britain and China, signed in 1842, at the close of the Opium War. By its terms England secured Hong Kong in perpetuity, and Shanghai and other ports were opened to foreign trade. A sobriquet
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O
O
A series of riots which disturbed London in 1809, owing to Kemble having raised the prices at Covent Garden Theatre. The mob demanded the “old prices.” Clifford, a barrister, was charged with inciting to riot by appearing in the theatre with the letters “O.P.” in his hat, but was acquitted, whereupon Kemble gave way. An agrarian society in Ulster in 1763. It was formed to protest against the action of the Grand Juries, who had decided upon the construction of certain roads which the peasantry ma
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P
P
The war between Chile on the one side and Peru and Bolivia on he other in 1879-83 is so called. The agreement entered into between the nobles and candidates for the throne at the election of the Polish kings. The terms agreed upon at the election of Henry in 1573 included the following: Henry undertook not to influence the diet in the choice of his successor, not to declare war, to marry or to divorce without their consent, not to impose taxes nor to appoint ambassadors. These terms were known a
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Q
Q
The name given to four fortresses in Northern Italy, Peschiera, Mantua, Legnago and Verona. The four fortresses of Varna, Silistria, Rustchuk and Schumla are known by this name. A treaty signed in 1840, by Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, by which the signatories bound themselves to protect the Porte against aggression. An alliance between England, France, Austria and Holland, formed to prevent Spain recovering her former possessions in Italy. It became the Quadruple Alliance through
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R
R
The expulsion of Episcopalian clergymen in the west of Scotland by the Covenanters in 1689 is so called. These proceedings were subsequently legalized by the Scottish Parliament. A name given to the advanced wing of the Liberal Party about 1816. Its leaders were Hunt, Cobbett, and Sir Francis Burdett. A series of documents recording the progress of Edward I through Scotland in 1296, with the names of the nobles and others who did homage to him. A border fight between the English and Scotch in 15
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S
S
Freedom from the jurisdiction of the Hundred which, in Saxon times, generally accompanied grants of land. From this arose the jurisdiction of the feudal lords over their own estates, including such townships as might be built upon them. A committee composed of ten commoners and five peers appointed by the Long Parliament in 1642, to conduct the war against the King. The Norse chronicles, recording the exploits of the most famous Viking chiefs. The earliest Sagas to which even an approximate date
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T
T
The corrupt form of Dutch spoken in the Dutch portions of South Africa. Its corruption is due principally to the large proportion of foreigners among the early immigrants, and to their intercourse with the native races. A board or committee established in Scotland in 1637, chosen by the Supplicants with the object of bringing about an agreement between Archbishop Laud and the Presbyterians. It consisted of four members of each of the four classes: nobles, lesser barons, burgesses and clergy. The
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U
U
The name given to the proprietors of allodial lands in the Orkneys. A decree of the Czar of Russia is so called. The Czar being an absolute monarch, it has all the force of a legal enactment. The body of professional theologians and lawyers in Turkey. They are the interpreters of the law of the Koran, and from their body are selected the pleaders and magistrates as well as the priests. The head of the Ulema is the Sheyk-ul-Islam. The surrender of the Austrian General Mack, with 30,000 men, to Na
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V
V
A treaty between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, signed in 1857, after President Pretorius’ abortive invasion of the Free State. The two countries mutually acknowledged each other’s independence, with the Vaal as the boundary between them. The Transvaal repudiated the acts of Pretorius in his attempt to interfere with the internal Government of the Free State, while the Free State undertook to use every endeavour to compel Schoeman and Joubert to cease hostilities, and further agreed to
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W
W
A method of trial based on the Norse trial by duel, introduced into England by William the Conqueror. Any person charged with an offence by a private individual could challenge him to mortal combat, and if he were successful, or could escape defeat for a whole day, was acquitted of the charge. Wager of battle was not legally abolished until 1819. A sect of fanatical Mohammedans, whose centre is at Nejd, in Arabia, though they are spread over the whole Moslem world. As a military power they were
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X
X
An American mission despatched to France in 1797. Attempts were made to bribe them, the agents employed using, in their correspondence, the initials X, Y, Z....
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Y
Y
A treaty between Great Britain and Burmah, signed in 1826, at the end of the Burmah War of 1824, whereby Great Britain acquired Arrakan and Tenasserim. See Anglo-German Agreement. The name first applied to the colonists in the New England States by the British soldiers during the American War of Independence. It is supposed to be derived from an Indian corruption of English—“Yengies,” or “Yanghies.” This name was given by the French during the Thirty Years’ War to the year 1636, when the Imperia
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Z
Z
A treaty between Germany and Zanzibar, signed in 1885. The Sultan of Zanzibar thereby recognized Germany’s rights over Chagga and Kilimanjaro, and accorded certain trade facilities to the German East Africa Company. A community of Free Cossacks on the Dnieper. They were not finally deprived of their independence till the reign of Catherine II, circ. 1780. See Ten Jurisdictions. A body of Cardinals, headed by Cardinal Orsini, who had great influence in Rome circ. 1700, and whose efforts were dire
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