Dictionary of dates, and universal reference

BANNS. In the feudal law, banns were a solemn proclamation of anything, and hence arose the custom of asking banns, or giving notice before marriage. The use of matrimonial banns is said to have been introduced into the Gallican church, about A.D. 1210; and banns of marriage are proclaimed in the church of England to this day.

BANTAM. The celebrated rich British factory here was first established by Captain Lancaster in 1603. The English and Danes were driven from their factories by the Dutch in 1683. Bantam surrendered to the British in 1811, but was restored to the Dutch at the peace in 1814.

BANTRY BAY. A French fleet, with succours of arms, ammunition, and money, to the adherents of James II. attacked in this bay by admiral Herbert, May, 1689. A French squadron of seven sail of the line and two frigates, armed en flute, and seventeen transports, anchored here for a few days, December, 1796. Mutiny of the Bantry Bay squadron under admiral Mitchell in Dec. 1801, and Jan. 1802. Twentytwo of the mutineers were tried on board the Gladiator, at Portsmouth, when seventeen were condemned to death, of whom eleven were executed; the others were sentenced to receive each 200 lashes; the executions took place on board the Majestic, Centaur, Formidable, Téméraire, and L'Achille, Jan. 8 to 18, 1802. BAPTISM. The sacrament of admission instituted by Christ, and practised by all sects professing Christianity, except Quakers. St. John, the forerunner of our Saviour, is eminently called the Baptist, as being the first that publicly baptized with a spiritual intention. Christ came from Galilee to Jordan, and was baptized by John, A.D. 30. Originally the people were baptized in rivers; but in the reign of Constantine, A.D. 319, in great cities they built chapels, or places specially to baptize in, which in the eastern countries was by dipping the person all over. Now, in the western and colder parts, they use sprinkling; at first every church had not a baptistery belonging to it; our fonts answer the same end.-Pardon. BAPTISTS, OR ANABAPTISTS, a sect distinguished from other Christians by their opinions respecting baptism, began their doctrine about A.D. 1525, but much earlier dates are mentioned. They suffered much persecution in England in the sixteenth century. Rhode Island, America, was settled by Baptists in 1635. Of Baptist missions, it may be said, that the Moravian brethren led the way to their benevolent enterprises, about 1732.-See Anabaptists.

BARBADOES, the first English settlement in the West Indies. This mother plantation gave rise to the sugar trade in England about 1605; and was, with other Caribbee islands, settled by charter granted to the earl of Marlborough, 2 Charles I. 1627. Barbadoes has suffered severely from elemental visitations: in a dreadful hurricane in 1780, more than 4000 of the inhabitants lost their lives. A large plantation with all its buildings was destroyed, by the land removing from its original site to another, and covering everything in its peregrination, Oct. 1784. An inundation, Nov. 1795; and two great fires, May and Dec. 1796. Awful devastation, with the loss of thousands of lives, and of immense property, by a hurricane, August 10, 1831. The history of Inkle and Yarico, which Addison, in his Spectator, has recorded for the detestation of mankind, took its rise in this island.

BARBER. This trade was practised at Rome in the third century B.C.

In England, barbers formerly exhibited a head, or pole, at their doors; and the barber's pole until lately used by them was a burlesque imitation of the former sign. BARBER-SURGEONS. Formerly the business of a surgeon was united to that of barber, and he was denominated a barber-surgeon. A company was formed under this name in 1308, and the London company was incorporated, 1st Edward IV. 1461. This union of profession was dissolved by a statute of Henry VIII. BARCLAY, CAPTAIN : his celebrated walking wager, to walk 1000 miles in 1000 successive hours, each mile within each hour, and upon which hundreds of thousands of pounds depended, accomplished July 10, 1809. This feat occupied, without intermission, every hour (less eight) of forty-two days and nights. A wager was won by a young lady, at Newmarket, who had undertaken to ride 1000 miles in 1000 hours, which she performed in little more than two-thirds of the time, May 3, 1758.--Butler. BARDS. The profession of bard appeared with great lustre in Gaul, Britain, and Ireland. Demodocus is mentioned as a bard by Homer; Alexander the Great had a bard named Cherylus; and we find bards, according to Strabo, among the Romans

before the age of Augustus. The druids among the English were philosophers and priests, and the bards were their poets. They were the recorders of heroic actions, in Ireland and Scotland, almost down to our own times. Ossian flourished in the third century, Merlin in the fifth. The former speaks of a prince who kept a hundred bards. Irish sonnets are the chief foundations of the ancient history of Ireland. See Ballads.

BARFLEUR, taken and destroyed by the English in the same campaign in which they fought and won the battle of Cressy, A.D. 1346. Destruction of the French navy near this cape by admiral Russell, after the victory of La Hogue in 1692. BARK, THE JESUITS'. Its medicinal virtues first discovered in Peru, by the Indians about 1535. Brought into Europe by some Jesuits, from whom it took its common name, 1649. Introduced into general medical practice in France about 1680, and in England by Sir Hans Sloane, about 1700. See Jesuits. BARM, OR YEAST, said to have been first used by the Celta in the composition of bread. Eggs, milk, and honey, were the ingredients used in making bread till the knowledge of brewing acquainted the Celta with this mode to render it lighter. BARNET, BATTLE OF, between the houses of York and Lancaster, when Edward IV. gained a decisive and memorable victory over the earl of Warwick, Easter-day, April 14, 1471. The earl of Warwick, his brother the marquis of Montacute, and ten thousand of his army were slain. At the moment Warwick fell, he was leading a chosen body of troops into the thickest of the slaughter, and his body was covered with wounds.-Goldsmith. A column commemorative of this battle has been erected at the meeting of the St. Alban's and Hatfield roads.- Brooks. BAROMETERS. Torricelli, a Florentine, having discovered that no principle of suction existed, and that water did not rise in a pump owing to nature's abhorrence of a vacuum, imitated the action of a pump with mercury, and made the first barometer, in 1643, and Descartes explained the phenomena. Wheel barometers were contrived in 1668; pendant barometers in 1695; marine in 1700. BARONS. The dignity of baron is extremely ancient: its original name in England was Vavasour, which, by the Saxons was changed into Thane, and by the Normans into Baron. Many of this rank are named in the history of England, and undoubtedly had assisted in, or had been summoned to parliament; but such is the deficiency of public records, that the first precept to be found is of no higher date than the 49th Henry III., 1265. The first who was raised to this dignity by patent was John de Beauchamp, created baron of Kidderminster, by Richard II., 1387. Barons first summoned to parliament, 1205. Took arms against king John, and compelled him to sign the great charter of our liberties, and the charter of the forests, at Runnymede, near Windsor, June, 1215. Charles II. granted a coronet to barons on his restoration: they attended parliament in complete armour in the reign of Henry III.-Beatson.

BARONETS, the first among the gentry, and the only knighthood that is hereditary : instituted by James I., 1611. The baronets of Ireland were created in 1619. The rebellion in Ulster seems to have given rise to this order, it having been required of a baronet, on his creation, to pay into the exchequer as much as would maintain "thirty soldiers three years at eightpence a day in the province of Ulster in Ireland." It was further required that a baronet should be a gentleman born, and have a clear estate of £1000 per annum. The first baronet was sir Nicholas Bacon (whose successor is therefore styled Primus Baronettorum Anglia), May 22, 1611. The first Irish baronet was sir Francis Blundell. Baronets of Nova Scotia were created, 1625. Sir Robert Gordon was the first baronet. All baronets created since the Irish union in 1801, are of the United Kingdom.

BARRACKS. The word is not to be found in our early lexicographers; it comes to us from the French, and in the Dict. de l'Acad. is thus defined: "Baraque— Hutte qui font les soldats en campagne pour se mettre à couvert."-Barracks were not numerous in these countries until about 1789. A superintendant-general board was appointed in 1793, since when commodious barracks have been built in the various garrison towns and central points of the empire.

BARRIER TREATY. By this celebrated treaty, the Low Countries were ceded to the emperor Charles VI. It was signed by the British, Imperial, and Dutch ministers, on the part of their respective sovereigns, Nov. 15, 1715.

BARRISTERS. They are said to have been first appointed by Edward I. about 1291; but there is earlier mention of professional advocates in England. There are various ranks of barristers, as King's Counsel, Sergeants, &c., which see. Students for the bar must keep a certain number of terms at the Inns of Court, previously to being called; and Irish students also must keep eight terms in England. The original intention of the statute as respected Ireland, was the cultivation of English habits and associations, and attention to the working of the courts at Westminster. BARROSA, BATTLE OF, between the British army, commanded by general, afterwards lord Graham, and the French under marshal Victor. After a long and sanguinary conflict, the British achieved one of the most glorious triumphs of the Peninsular war; although they fought to great disadvantage they compelled the enemy to retreat, leaving nearly three thousand dead, six pieces of cannon, and an eagle, the first that the British had taken, March 6, 1811.

BARROWS, the circular mounds found in Britain and other countries to record a burial on the spot. They were the most ancient sepulchres; but lest the relics of the dead should be violated by enemies, the custom of burning the dead was commenced by Sylla, and it was not in disuse until the time of Macrobius. Sir Richard Hoare caused several barrows near Stonehenge to be opened; in them were found a number of curious remains of Celtic ornaments, such as beads, buckles and brooches, in amber, wood, and gold, Nov. 1808.

BARROW'S STRAITS. Discovered by Parry, who penetrated as far as Melville Island, in lat. 74° 26' N., and long. 113° 47′ W. The strait was entered on the 2d August, 1819. The lowest state of the thermometer was 55° below zero of Fahrenheit.

BARTHOLOMEW, ST., martyred, August 24, A.D. 71. The festival instituted 1130. Monastery of St. Bartholomew (Austin friars) founded by Rahere, 1100. On its dissolution, the existing hospital of that name in London was incorporated in the last year of the reign of Henry VIII., 1546. It was rebuilt by subscription in 1729. The charter for the fair was granted by Henry II.; and it is held on the ground which was the former scene of tournaments and martyrdoms. The spot where the latter took place is situated in the centre of the pens, where the gas-lamp now stands. Here Wat Tyler was killed by the lord mayor Walworth in 1381, and in consequence of which the dagger was added to the city arms. BARTHOLOMEW, MASSACRE OF ST. This dreadful massacre in France, commenced at Paris on the night of the festival of St. Bartholomew, August 24, 1572. More than seventy thousand Hugonots, or French Protestants, were murdered throughout the kingdom, by secret orders from Charles IX., at the instigation of the queendowager, Catherine de Medicis, his mother. The massacre was attended with circumstances of demoniacal cruelty, even as regarded the female and the infant. BARTHOLOMITES. A religious order founded, A.D. 1307, at Genoa, where is preserved, in the Bartholomite church, the image, which, it is said, Christ sent to king Abgarus. The order suppressed by pope Innocent X., 1650.

BASILIANS. The order of St. Basil, of which, in the saint's time, there were ninety thousand monks; it was reformed by pope Gregory, in 1569. A sect founded by Basil, a physician of Bulgaria, on the most extravagant notions: they rejected the book of Moses, and also the eucharist and baptism, and had everything, even their wives, in common, 1110. Basil was burnt alive in 1118.

BASKET-MAKING. The art was very early known in Britain, and it is recorded that our ancestors made baskets which were celebrated for their workmanship at Rome. "Failing in that new pursuit, I returned to my old trade of basket-making," was a well-known common-place in England.-Rogers.

BASQUE ROADS. Heroic achievement in these roads by the British; four French ships of the line while riding at anchor were attacked by lord Gambier, and with much shipping were destroyed, April 14, 1809.

BASS'S STRAITS. Mr. Bass, surgeon of the Reliance, penetrated in 1797 as far as Western Port, in an open boat, from Port Jackson, and affirmed that a Strait existed between New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. Lieutenant Flinders circumnavigated Van Diemen's Land, and named the Strait after Mr. Bass, 1799. BASSET, or Bassette, or Pour et Contre, a game at cards, invented by a noble Venetian, and for which he was banished; introduced into France, 1674.

BASTARD CHILDREN. An attempt was made in England in 1272, to make bastard children legitimate by the subsequent marriage of the parents, but it failed, and led to the memorable answer of the barons assembled in the parliament of Merton, Nolumus leges Angliæ mutare-the laws of England we will not to be changed. Women concealing their children's birth, deemed guilty of murder, 21 James I., 1624. Viner's Statutes. In Scotland, bastard children had not the power of disposing of their moveable estates by will, until the 6th William IV. 1836.

BASTILE OF PARIS. A royal castle, built by Charles V. king of France, in 1369, et seq. for the defence of Paris against the English, completed in 1383. It was afterwards used as a state prison, like the Tower of London, and became the scene of the most deplorable suffering and frightful crimes. It was of such strength that Henry IV. and his veteran army assailed it in vain in the siege of Paris, during the intestine war that desolated France between the years 1587 and 1594; yet it was pulled down by the infuriated populace, July 14, 1789, and thus was commenced the French revolution. On the capture of this great monument of slavery, the governor, and other officers were seized, and conducted to the Place de Grève, and having had their hands cut off, they were then beheaded. The furious citizens having fixed their heads on pikes carried them in triumph through the streets. "The man with the iron mask," the most mysterious prisoner ever known, died here, Nov. 19, 1703.-See Iron Mask.

BATAVIA. The capital of Java, and of all the Dutch settlements in the East Indies, fortified by that people, 1618. Twelve thousand Chinese massacred here in one day, 1740. Taken by the English, January, 1782. Again, by the British, under general sir Samuel Auchmuty, to whom the garrison surrendered, Aug. 8, 1811. BATH. This city was very early a favourite station of the Romans, and it was remarkable even in their time for its springs. Coel, a British king, is said to have given this city a charter, and the Saxon king Edgar was crowned here, A.D. 973. Bath was plundered and burnt in the reign of William Rufus, and again in 1137. The Abbey church was commenced in 1495, and was finished in 1532; the Assemblyrooms were built in 1791; the Pump-room, in 1797; the Theatre, Beaufort-square, was opened in 1805. The Bath Philosophical Society was formed in 1817. BATH AND WELLS, BISHOPRIC OF, an ancient see, whose cathedral church was built by Ina, king of the West Saxons, in 704; it was erected into a bishopric, 5 Edward the Elder, 905. John de Villula, the sixteenth bishop, having purchased the city of Bath for 500 marks of Henry I., transferred his seat to Bath from Wells, in 1088; and from this, disputes arose between the monks of Bath and the canons of Wells, about the election of a bishop; but they were compromised in 1136, when it was decreed, that from henceforward the bishop should be styled from both places, and that the precedency should be given to Bath. This see is valued in the king's books at £531 1s. 3d. per annum.

BATH, ORDER OF THE. The origin of this order is ascribed to the ancient Franks, with whom it is probable the Saxons who invaded England had the same common descent, and who, with other customs, upon their settling here, introduced the same method of knighthood. These ancient Franks, when they conferred knighthood, bathed before they performed their vigils, and from this ablution came the title of knights of the Bath. Henry IV. instituted a degree of knighthood of the Bath, and on his coronation in the Tower he conferred the order upon forty-six esquires, who had watched the night before, and had bathed. After the coronation of Charles II. the order was neglected until 1725, when it was revived by George I. who fixed the number of knights at 37. In 1815, the prince regent enlarged the order, forming the present classes of knights grand crosses (72), and knights commanders (180), with an unlimited number of companions. See Knighthood.

BATHS, long used in Greece, and introduced by Maecenas into Rome. The therma of the Romans and gymnasia of the Greeks were sumptuous. The marble Laocoon was found in the baths of Titus, and the Farnese Hercules in those of Caracalla.-Strabo. BATHS IN ENGLAND. The baths of Somersetshire are said to have been in use eight centuries before Christ. In London, St. Agnes Le Clere, in Old-street-road, is a spring of great antiquity, and was well known in the time of Henry VIII. St. Chad's well, Gray's-inn-road, derived its name from St. Chad, the fifth bishop of

Lichfield, in 667. Old Bath-house, Coldbath-square, was in use in 1697. Bagniocourt is said to have contained the first bath established in England for hot bathing. -Leigh. BATON, OR TRUNCHEON, borne by generals in the French army. Henry III. before he ascended the throne, was made generalissimo of the army of his brother, Charles IX., and received the baton as the mark of his high command, 1569.-Henault. BATTEL-ABBEY. Founded by William the Conqueror on the plain where the battle of Hastings was fought, October 14, 1066. thousands who were slain in that memorable battle. This monastery was dedicated It was built in atonement for the many to St. Martin, and was given to Benedictine monks, who were to pray for the souls of the slain. The original name of the plain was Heathfield.-See Hastings. BATTEL ROLL. After the battle of Hastings, which decided the fate of England, and subjected it to the Norman yoke, a list was taken of William's chiefs, amounting to 629, and called the Battel-roll; and among these chiefs the lands and distinctions of the followers of the defeated Harold were distributed, 1066. BATTEL, WAGER OF. A trial by combat, formerly allowed by our laws, where the defendant in an appeal of murder might fight with the appellant, and make proof thereby of his guilt or innocence. Thornton, before the King's Bench in London, April 1818, the court allowed that In a late case of appeal of murder, Ashford v. the law gave the defendant a right to his wager of battle; but the appellant, the brother of a lovely girl, whom Thornton had first violated and then murdered, not accepting the challenge, the murderer was discharged. A statute was immediately passed, putting an end to this mode of trial, 59 George III. 1819.-Statutes at large. BATTERIES. Were introduced immediately after the use of cannon by the English along the coasts. The famous floating batteries with which Gibraltar was attacked in the memorable siege of that fortress were the scheme of D'Arcon, a French engineer. There were ten of them, and they resisted the heaviest shells and 32-pound shot, but ultimately yielded to red-hot shot, Sept. 13, 1782.-See Gibraltar. BATTERING-RAM. Testudo Arietaria, with other military implements, some of which are still in use, invented by Artemones, about 441 B.C. engines by their own weight exceeded the utmost effects of our battering cannon.These ponderous Desaguliers. Sir Christopher Wren employed a battering-ram in demolishing the old walls of St. Paul's church, previously to rebuilding the new edifice in 1675. BATTLE-AXE. A weapon of the Celta. The Irish went constantly armed with an axe.-Burns. At the battle of Bannockburn king Robert Bruce clave an English champion down to the chine at one blow with a battle-axe, 1314.-Hume. The battle-axe guards, or beaufetiers, who are vulgarly called beef-eaters, and whose arms are a sword and lance, were first raised by Henry VII. in 1485. They were originally attendants upon the king's buffet. BATTLEFIELD, BATTLE OF. Near Shrewsbury, between king Henry IV. and See Yeomen of the Guard. Percy, surnamed Hotspur; the victory was gained by Henry, whose usurpation of the throne had laid the foundation of the factions of the houses of York and Lancaster, and the civil wars that ensued, 1402.

BATTLES. Palamedes of Argos was the first who ranged an army in a regular line of battle, and placed sentinels round a camp, and excited the soldier's vigilance by giving him a watch-word.-Lenglet. The following are the principal and most memorable battles mentioned in general history, and in British annals, and are those also that are most commonly referred to: they are set down according to the dates of their occurrence :

BEFORE CHRIST.

*The Trojan war commenced

*Troy taken and destroyed

*Spartans and Argives

Ithome taken

Assyrians and Jews

*Horatii and Curiatii

Corcyra (Sea-fight, first on record)

Rages (Medes and Assyrians)