Part 42

The history of Brabant is connected with that of the duchy of Lower Lorraine (q.v.), which became in the course of the 11th century split up into a number of small feudal states. The counts of Hainaut, Namur, Luxemburg and Limburg asserted their independence, and the territory of Liege passed to the bishops of that city. The remnant of the duchy, united since 1100 with the margraviate of Antwerp, was conferred in 1106 by the emperor Henry V., with the title of duke of Lower Lorraine, upon Godfrey (Godefroid) I., "the Bearded," count of Louvain and Brussels. His title was disputed by Count Henry of Limburg, and for three generations the representatives of the rival houses contested the possession of the ducal dignity in Lower Lorraine. The issue was decided in favour of the house of Louvain by Duke Godfrey III. in 1159. His son, Henry I., "the Warrior" (1183-1235), abandoned the title of duke of Lower Lorraine and assumed in 1190 that of duke of Brabant. His successors were Henry II., "the Magnanimous" (1235-1248), Henry III., "le Debonnair" (1248-1261), and John I., "the Victorious" (1261-1294). These were all able rulers. Their usual place of residence was Louvain. John I., in 1283 bought the duchy of Limburg from Adolf of Berg, and secured his acquisition by defeating and slaying his competitor, Henry of Luxemburg, at the battle of Woeringen (June 5, 1288). His own son, John II., "the Pacific" (1294-1312), bestowed liberties upon his subjects by the charter of Cortenberg. This charter laid the foundation of Brabantine freedom. By it the imposition of grants (_beden_) and taxes was strictly limited and regulated, and its execution was entrusted to a council appointed by the duke for life (four nobles, ten burghers) whose duty it was to consider all complaints and to see that the conditions laid down by the charter concerning the administration of justice and finance were not infringed. He was succeeded by his son, John III., "the Triumphant" (1312-1355), who succeeded in maintaining his position in spite of formidable risings in Louvain and Brussels, and a league formed against him by his princely neighbours, but he had a hard struggle to face, and many ups and downs of fortune. He it was to whom Brabant owed the great charter of its liberties, called _La joyeuse entree_, because it was granted on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Johanna (Jeanne) with Wenzel (Wenceslaus) of Luxemburg, and was proclaimed on their state entry into Brussels (1356).

Henry, the only legitimate son of John III., having died in 1349, the ducal dignity passed to his daughter and heiress, the above-named Johanna (d. 1406). She had married in first wedlock William IV., count of Holland (d. 1345). Wenzel of Luxemburg, her second husband, assumed in right of his wife, and by the sanction of the charter _La joyeuse entree_, the style of duke of Brabant. Johanna's title was, however, disputed by Louis II., count of Flanders (d. 1384), who had married her sister Margaret. The question had been compromised by the cession to Margaret in 1347 of the margraviate of Antwerp by John III., but a war broke out in 1356 between Wenzel supported by the gilds, and Louis, who upheld the burgher-patrician party in the Brabant cities. The democratic leaders were Everhard Tserclaes at Brussels and Peter Coutercel at Louvain. In the course of a stormy reign Wenzel was taken prisoner in 1371 by the duke of Gelderland, and had to be ransomed by his subjects. After his death (1383) his widow continued to rule over the two duchies for eighteen years, but was obliged to rely on the support of the house of Burgundy in her contests with the turbulent city gilds and with her neighbours, the dukes of Julich and Gelderland. In 1390 she revoked the deed which secured the succession to Brabant to the house of Luxemburg, and appointed her niece, Margaret of Flanders (d. 1405), daughter of Louis II. and Margaret of Brabant (see FLANDERS), and her husband, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, her heirs. Margaret of Flanders had married (1) Philip I. de Rouvre of Burgundy (d. 1361) and (2) Philip II., the Bold, (d. 1404), son of John II., king of France (see BURGUNDY). Of her three sons by her second marriage John succeeded to Burgundy, and Anthony to Brabant on the death of Johanna in 1406. Anthony was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415 and was succeeded by his eldest son by Jeanne of Luxemburg St Pol, John IV. (d. 1427). He is chiefly memorable for the excitement caused by his divorce from his wife Jacoba (q.v.), countess of Holland. John IV. left no issue, and the succession passed to his brother Philip I., who also died without issue in 1430.

On the extinction of the line of Anthony the duchy of Brabant became the inheritance of the elder branch of the house of Burgundy, in the person of Philip III., "the Good," of Burgundy, II. of Brabant, son of John. His grand-daughter Mary (d. 1482), daughter and heiress of Charles I., "the Bold," (d. 1477) married the archduke Maximilian of Austria (afterwards emperor) and so brought Brabant with the other Burgundian possessions to the house of Habsburg. The chief city of Brabant, Brussels, became under the Habsburg regime the residence of the court and the capital of the Netherlands. In the person of the emperor Charles V. the destinies of Brabant and the other Netherland states were linked with those of the Spanish monarchy. The attempt of Philip II. of Spain to impose despotic rule upon the Netherlands led to the outbreak of the Netherland revolt, 1568 (see NETHERLANDS).

In the course of the eighty years' war of independence the province of Brabant became separated into two portions. In the southern and larger part Spanish rule was maintained, and Brussels continued to be the seat of government. The northern (smaller) part was conquered by the Dutch under Maurice and Frederick Henry of Orange. The latter captured 's Hertogenbosch (1629), Maastricht (1632) and Breda (1637). At the peace of Munster this portion, which now forms the Dutch province of North Brabant, was ceded by Philip IV. to the United Provinces and was known as Generality Land, and placed under the direct government of the states-general. The southern portion, now divided into the provinces of Antwerp and South Brabant, remained under the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs until the death of Charles II., the last of his race in 1700. After the War of the Spanish Succession the southern Netherlands passed by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) to the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs. During the whole period of Austrian rule the province of Brabant succeeded in maintaining, to a very large extent unimpaired, the immunities and privileges to which it was entitled under the provisions of its ancient charter of liberty, the Joyous Entry. An ill-judged attempt by the emperor Joseph II., in his zeal for reform, to infringe these inherited rights stirred up the people under the leadership of Henry van der Noot to armed resistance in the Brabancon revolt of 1789-1790.

Since the French conquest of 1794 the history of Brabant is merged in that of Belgium (q.v.). The revolt against Dutch rule in 1830 broke out at Brussels and was in its initial stages largely a Brabancon movement. The important part played by Brabant at this crisis of the history of the southern Netherlands was marked in 1831 by the adoption of the ancient Brabancon colours to form the national flag, and of the lion of Brabant as the armorial bearings of Belgium. The title of duke of Brabant has been revived as the style of the eldest son of the king of the Belgians. (G. E.)

BRABANT, the central and metropolitan province of Belgium, is formed out of part of the ancient duchy. From 1815 to 1830, that is to say, during the existence of the kingdom of the Netherlands, Belgian Brabant was distinguished from Dutch by the employment of the geographical terms South and North. The surface of Brabant is undulating, and the highest points, some 400 ft. in altitude, are to be found at and near Mont St Jean. The province is well cultivated, and the people are well known for their industry. There are valuable stone quarries, and many manufactures flourish in the smaller towns, such as Ottignies, as well as in the larger cities of Brussels and Louvain. Brabant contains 820,740 acres or 1268 sq. m. Its principal towns are Brussels, Louvain, Nivelles, Hal, Ottignies, and its three administrative divisions are named after the first three of those towns. They are subdivided into 50 cantons and 344 communes. In 1904 the population of the province was 1,366,389 or a proportion of 1077 per sq. m.

BRABANT, NORTH, the largest province in Holland, bounded S. by Belgium, W. and N.W. by the Scheldt, the Eendracht, the Volkerak and the Hollandsch Diep, which separate it from Zealand and South Holland, N. and N. E. by the Merwede and Maas, which separate it from South Holland and Gelderland, and E. by the province of Limburg. It has an area of 231 sq. m. and a pop. (1900) of 553,842. The surface of the province is a gentle slope from the south-east (where it ranges between 80 and 160 ft. in height) towards the north and north-west, and the soil is composed of diluvial sand, here and there mixed with gravel, but giving place to sea-clay along the western boundary and river-clay along the banks of the Maas and smaller rivers. The watershed is formed by the north-eastern edge of the Belgian plateau of Campine, and follows a curved line drawn through Bergen-op-Zoom, Turnhout and Maastricht. The landscape consists for the most part of waste stretches of heath, occasionally slightly overlaid with high fen. Between the valleys of the Aa and the Maas lies the long stretch of heavy high-fen called the Peel ("marshy land"). Deurne, a few miles east of Helmond, the site of a prehistoric burial-ground, was an early fen colony. The work of reclamation was removed farther eastwards to Helenaveen in the second half of the 19th century. Agriculture (potatoes, buckwheat, rye) is the main industry, generally combined with cattle-raising. On the clay lands wheat and barley are the principal products, and in the western corner of the province beetroot is largely cultivated for the beet sugar industry, factories being found at Bergen-op-Zoom, Steenbergen and Oudenbosch. There is a special cultivation of hops in the district north-west of 's Hertogenbosch. The large majority of the population is Roman Catholic. The earliest development of towns and villages took place along the river Maas and its tributaries, and the fortified Roman camps which were the origin of many such afterwards developed in the hands of feudal lords. The chief town of the province, 's Hertogenbosch, may be cited as an interesting historical example. Geertruidenberg, Heusden, Ravestein and Grave are all similarly situated. Breda is the next town in importance to the capital. Bergen-op-Zoom had originally a more maritime importance. Rozendaal, Eindhoven and Bokstel (or Boxtel) are important railway junctions. Bokstel was formerly the seat of an independent barony which came into the possession of Philip the Good in 1439. The castle was restored in modern times. The precarious position of the province on the borders of the country doubtless militated against an earlier industrial development, but since the separation from Belgium and the construction of roads, railways and canals there has been a general improvement, Tilburg, Eindhoven and Helmond all having risen into prominence in modern times as industrial centres. Leather-tanning and shoe-making are especially associated with the district called Langstraat, which is situated between Geertruidenberg and 's Hertogenbosch, and consists of a series of industrial villages along the course of the Old Maas.

BRACCIANO, a town in the province of Rome, Italy, 25 m. N.W. of Rome by rail, situated on the S.W. shore of the Lake of Bracciano, 915 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 3987. It is chiefly remarkable for its fine castle (built by the Orsini in 1460, and since 1696 the property of the Odescalchi) which has preserved its medieval character. The beautiful lake is the ancient _Lacus Sabatinus_, supposed to derive its name from an Etruscan city of the name of Sabate, which is wrongly thought to be mentioned in the Itineraries; the reference is really to the lake itself, which bore this name and gave it to one of the Roman tribes, the _tribus Sabatina_, founded in 387 B.C. (O. Cuntz in _Jahreshefte des Osterr. Arch. Instituts_, ii., 1899, 85). It is 22 sq. m. in area, 538 ft. above sea-level, and 530 ft. deep; it is almost circular, but is held to be, not an extinct crater, but the result of a volcanic subsidence. The tufa deposits which radiate from it extend as far as Rome; various small craters surround it, while the existence of warm springs in the district (especially those of Vicarello, probably the ancient _Aquae Apollinares_) may also be noted. Many remains of ancient villas may be seen round the lake: above its west bank is the station of Forum Clodii, and on its north shore the village of Trevignano, which retains traces of the fortifications of an ancient town of unknown name. About half-a-mile east of it was a post station called Ad Novas. The site of Anguillara, on the south shore, was occupied by a Roman villa. The water of the lake partly supplies the Acqua Paola, a restoration by Paul V. of the Aqua Traiana. (T. As.)

BRACCIOLINI, FRANCESCO (1566-1645), Italian poet, was born at Pistoia, of a noble family, in 1566. On his removing to Florence he was admitted into the academy there, and devoted himself to literature. At Rome he entered the service of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, with whom he afterwards went to France. After the death of Clement VIII. he returned to his own country; and when his patron Barberini was elected pope, under the name of Urban VIII., Bracciolini repaired to Rome, and was made secretary to the pope's brother, Cardinal Antonio. He had also the honour conferred on him of taking a surname from the arms of the Barberini family, which were bees; whence he was afterwards known by the name of _Bracciolini dell' Api_. During Urban's pontificate the poet lived at Rome in considerable reputation, though at the same time he was censured for his sordid avarice. On the death of the pontiff he returned to Pistoia, where he died in 1645. There is scarcely any species of poetry, epic, dramatic, pastoral, lyric or burlesque, which Bracciolini did not attempt; but he is principally noted for his mock-heroic poem _Lo Scherno degli Dei_, published in 1618, similar but confessedly inferior to the contemporary work of Tassoni, _Secchia Rapita_. Of his serious heroic poems the most celebrated is _La Croce Racquistata_.

For the Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini see POGGIO.

BRACE, CHARLES LORING (1826-1890), American philanthropist, was born on the 19th of June 1826 in Litchfield, Connecticut. He graduated at Yale in 1846, studied theology there in 1847-1848, and graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1849. From this time he practically devoted his life to social work among the poor of New York, and to Christian propaganda among the criminal classes; and he became well known as a social reformer, at home and abroad. He started in 1852 to hold "boys' meetings," and in 1853 helped to found the Children's Aid Society, establishing workshops, industrial schools and lodging-houses for newsboys. In 1872 he was a delegate to the international prison congress which met in London. He died at Campfer, in Tirol, on the 11th of August 1890. He published from time to time several volumes embodying his views on practical Christianity and its application to the improvement of social conditions.

See _The Life and Letters of Charles Loring Brace_ (New York, 1894), edited by his daughter, Emma Brace.

BRACE, JULIA (1806-1884), American blind deaf-mute, was born at Newington, Connecticut, on the 13th of June 1806. In her fifth year she became blind and deaf, and lost the power of speech. At the age of eighteen she entered the asylum for the deaf and dumb at Hartford. The study of blind deaf-mutes and their scientific training was then in its infancy; but she learnt to sew well, was neat in her dress, and had a good memory. Dr S.G. Howe's experiments with her were interesting as leading to his success with Laura Bridgman. She died at Bloomington, Conn., on the 12th of August 1884.

BRACE (through the Fr. from the plural of the Lat. _bracchium_, the arm), a measure of length, being the distance between the extended arms. From the original meaning of "the two arms" comes that of something which secures, connects, tightens or strengthens, found in numerous uses of the word, as a carpenter's tool with a crank handle and socket to hold a bit for boring; a beam of wood or metal used to strengthen any building or machine; the straps passing over the shoulders to support the trousers; the leathern thong which slides up and down the cord of a drum, and regulates the tension and the tone; a writing and printing sign ({) for uniting two or more lines of letterpress or music; a nautical term for a rope fastened to the yard for trimming the sails (cf. the corresponding French term _bras de vergue_). As meaning "a couple" or "pair" the term was first applied to dogs, probably from the leash by which they were coupled in coursing. In architecture "brace mould" is the term for two ressaunts or ogees united together like a brace in printing, sometimes with a small bead between them.

BRACEGIRDLE, ANNE (c. 1674-1748), English actress, is said to have been placed under the care of Thomas Betterton and his wife, and to have first appeared on the stage as the page in _The Orphan_ at its first performance at Dorset Garden in 1680. She was Lucia in Shadwell's _Squire of Alsatia_ at the Theatre Royal in 1688, and played similar parts until, in 1693, as Araminta in _The Old Bachelor_, she made her first appearance in a comedy by Congreve, with whose works and life her name is most closely connected. In 1695 she went with Betterton and the other seceders to Lincoln's Inn Fields, where, on its opening with Congreve's _Love for Love_, she played Angelica. This part, and those of Belinda in Vanbrugh's _Provoked Wife_, and Almira in Congreve's _Mourning Bride_, were among her best impersonations, but she also played the heroines of some of Nicholas Rowe's tragedies, and acted in the contemporary versions of Shakespeare's plays. In 1705 she followed Betterton to the Haymarket, where she found a serious competitor in Mrs Oldfield, then first coming into public favour. The story runs that it was left for the audience to determine which was the better comedy actress, the test being the part of Mrs Brittle in Betterton's _Amorous Widow_, which was played alternately by the two rivals on successive nights. When the popular vote was given in favour of Mrs Oldfield, Mrs Bracegirdle quitted the stage, making only one reappearance at Betterton's benefit in 1709. Her private life was the subject of much discussion. Colley Cibber remarks that she had the merit of "not being unguarded in her private character," while Macaulay does not hesitate to call her "a cold, vain and interested coquette, who perfectly understood how much the influence of her charms was increased by the fame of a severity which cost her nothing." She was certainly the object of the adoration of many men, and she was the innocent cause of the killing of the actor William Mountfort (q.v.), whom Captain Hill and Lord Mohun regarded as a rival for her affections. During her lifetime she was suspected of being secretly married to Congreve, whose mistress she is also said to have been. He was at least always her intimate friend, and left her a legacy. Rightly or wrongly, her reputation for virtue was remarkably high, and Lord Halifax headed a subscription list of 800 guineas, presented to her as a tribute to her virtue. Her charity to the poor in Clare Market and around Drury Lane was conspicuous, "insomuch that she would not pass that neighbourhood without the thankful acclamations of people of all degrees." She died in 1748, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.

See Genest, _History of the Stage_; Colley Gibber, _Apology_ (edited by Bellchambers); Egerton, _Life of Anne Oldfield_; Downes, _Roscius Anglicanus._

BRACELET, or ARMLET, a personal ornament for the arm or wrist, made of different materials, according to the fashion of the age and the rank of the wearer. The word is the French _bracelet_, a diminutive of _bracel_, from _brac(c)hiale_, formed from the Latin _bracchium_, the arm, on which it was usually worn. By the Romans it was called _armilla, brachiale, occabus_; and in the middle ages _bauga, armispatha_.

[Illustration: From _La Grande Encyclopedie._

FIG. 1.--Egyptian Bracelet, Louvre.]

In the Bible there are three different words which the authorized version renders by "bracelet." These are--(1) [Hebrew: 'es'adah] _'es'adah_, which occurs in Num. xxxi. 50, 2 Sam. i. 10, and which being used with reference to men only, may be taken to be the _armlet_; (2) [Hebrew: samid] _samid_, which is found in Gen. xxiv. 22, Num. xxxi. 50, Ezek. xvi. 11;--where these two words occur together (as in Num. xxxi. 50) the first is rendered by "chain," and the second by "bracelet"; (3) [Hebrew: sheroth] _sheroth_, which occurs only in Isa. iii. 19. The first probably meant armlets worn by men; the second, bracelets worn by women and sometimes by men; and the third a peculiar bracelet of chain-work worn only by women. In 2 Sam. i. 10 the first word denotes the royal ornament which the Amalekite took from the arm of the dead Saul, and brought with the other regalia to David. There is little question that this was such a distinguishing band of jewelled metal as we still find worn as a mark of royalty from the Tigris to the Ganges. The Egyptian kings are represented with armlets, which were also worn by the Egyptian women. These, however, are not jewelled, but of plain or enamelled metal, as was in all likelihood the case among the Hebrews.

In modern times the most celebrated armlets are those which form part of the regalia of the Persian kings and formerly belonged to the Mogul emperors of India, being part of the spoil carried to Persia from Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739. These ornaments are of dazzling splendour, and the jewels in them are of such large size and immense value that the pair have been reckoned to be worth a million sterling. The principal stone of the right armlet is famous in the East under the name of the _Darya-i-nur_, "sea (or river) of light." It weighs 186 carats, and is considered the diamond of finest lustre in the world. The principal jewel of the left armlet, although of somewhat inferior size (146 carats) and value, is renowned as the _Taj-e-mah_, "crown of the moon." The imperial armlets, generally set with jewels, may also be observed in most of the portraits of the Indian emperors.

Bracelets have at all times been much in use among barbaric nations, and the women frequently wear several on the same arm. The finer kinds are of mother-of-pearl, fine gold or silver; others of less value are made of plated steel, horn, brass, copper, beads, &c. Chinese bracelets are sometimes cut out of single pieces of jade.