Part 140

LEIPSIC, University of.

See EDUCATION, MEDIÆVAL: GERMANY.

LEISLER'S REVOLUTION.

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1689-1691.

LEITH, The Concordat of.

See SCOTLAND: A. D. 1572.

LEKHS, The.

See LYGIANS.

LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY.

See EDUCATION, MODERN: AMERICA: A. D. 1884-1891.

LELANTIAN FIELDS. LELANTIAN FEUD.

See CHALCIS AND ERETRIA; and EUBŒA.

LELEGES, The.

"The Greeks beyond the sea [Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor] were however not merely designated in groups, according to the countries out of which they came, but certain collective names existed for them—such as that of Javan in the East. … Among all these names the most widely spread was that of the Leleges, which the ancients themselves designated as that of a mixed people. In Lycia, in Miletus, and in the Troad these Leleges had their home; in other words, on the whole extent of coast in which we have recognized the primitive seats of the people of Ionic Greeks."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 1, chapter 2._

See, also, DORIANS AND IONIANS.

LELIAERDS.

In the mediæval annals of the Flemish people, the partisans of the French are called "Leliaerds," from "lelie," the Flemish for lily.

_J. Hutton, James and Philip van Arteveld, page 32, foot-note._

LE MANS: Defeat of the Vendéans.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (JULY-DECEMBER).

LE MANS, Battle of (1871).

See FRANCE: A. D. 1870-1871.

LEMNOS.

One of the larger islands in the northern part of the Ægean Sea, lying opposite the Trojan coast. It was anciently associated with Samothrace and Imbros in the mysterious worship of the Cabeiri.

LEMOVICES, The.

The Lemovices were a tribe of Gauls who occupied, in Cæsar's time, the territory afterwards known as the Limousin —department of Upper Vienne and parts adjoining.

_Napoleon III., History of Cæsar, book 3, chapter 2, foot-note._

The city of Limoges derived its existence and its name from the Lemovices.

LEMOVII, The.

A tribe in ancient Germany whose territory, on the Baltic coast, probably in the neighborhood of Danzig, bordered on that of the Gothones.

_Church and Brodribb, Geographical Notes to the Germany of Tacitus._

LENAPE, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: DELAWARES.

LENS, Siege and battle (1647-1648).

See NETHERLANDS (SPANISH PROVINCES): A. D. 1647-1648.

LENTIENSES, The.

See ALEMANNI: A. D. 213.

LEO I., Roman Emperor (Eastern), A. D. 457-474.

Leo II., Pope, 682-683.

Leo II., Roman Emperor (Eastern), 474.

Leo III., Pope, 795-816.

Leo III. (called The Isaurian), Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek),717-741.

Leo IV., Pope, 847-855.

Leo IV., Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek), 775-780.

Leo V., Pope, 903, October to December.

Leo V., Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek), 813-820.

Leo VI., Pope, 928-929.

Leo VI., Emperor in the East (Byzantine, or Greek), 886-911.

Leo VII., Pope, 936-939.

Leo VIII., Anti-pope, 963-965.

Leo IX., Pope, 1049-1054.

Leo X., Pope, 1513-1521.

Leo XI., Pope, 1605, April 2-27.

Leo XII., Pope, 1823-1829.

Leo XIII., Pope, 1878.

LEOBEN, Preliminary treaty of (1797).

See FRANCE: A.D. 1796-1797 (OCTOBER-APRIL).

LEODIS (WEREGILD).

See GRAF.

LEON, Ponce de, and his quest.

See AMERICA: A. D. 1512.

LEON: Start--------

LEON, Origin of the name of the city and kingdom.

"This name Legio or Leon, so long borne by a province and by its chief city in Spain, is derived from the old Roman 'Regnum Legionis' (Kingdom of the Legion)."

_H. Coppée, Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors, book 5, chapter 1 (volume 1)._

LEON: Origin of the kingdom.

See SPAIN: A. D. 713-910.

LEON: Union of the kingdom with Castile.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1026-1230; and 1212-1238.

LEON: End--------

LEONIDAS AT THERMOPYLÆ.

See GREECE: B. C. 480; and ATHENS: B. C. 480-479.

LEONINE CITY, The

See VATICAN.

LEONTINI. The Leontine War.

See SYRACUSE: B. C. 415-413.

LEONTIUS, Roman Emperor (Eastern), A. D. 695-698.

LEOPOLD I., Germanic Emperor, A. D. 1658-1705; King of Hungary, 1655-1705: King of Bohemia, 1657-1705.

Leopold I., King of Belgium, 1831-1865.

Leopold II., Germanic Emperor, and King of Hungary and Bohemia, 1790-1792.

Leopold II., King of Belgium, 1865.

LEPANTO, Naval Battle of (1571).

See TURKS: A. D. 1566-1571.

LEPERS AND JEWS, Persecution of.

See JEWS: A. D. 1321.

LIPIDUS, Revolutionary attempt of.

See ROME: B. C. 78-68.

LEPTA.

See TALENT.

LEPTIS MAGNA.

"The city of Leptis Magna, originally a Phœnician colony, was the capital of this part of the province [the tract of north-African coast between the Lesser and the Greater Syrtes], and held much the same prominent position as that of Tripoli at the present day. The only other towns in the region of the Syrtes, as it was sometimes called, were Œa, on the site of the modern Tripoli, and Sabrata, the ruins of which are still visible at a place called Tripoli Vecchio. The three together gave the name of the Tripolis of Africa to this region, as distinguished from the Pentapolis of Cyrenaïca. Hence the modern appellation."

_E. H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, chapter 20, section 1, footnote (volume 2)._

See, also, CARTHAGE, THE DOMINION OF.

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LERIDA: B. C. 49. Cæsar's success against the Pompeians.

See ROME: B. C. 49.

LERIDA: A. D. 1644-1646, Sieges and battle.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1644-1646.

LERIDA: A. D. 1707. Stormed and sacked by the French and Spaniards.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1707.

LESBOS: Start--------

LESBOS.

The largest of the islands of the Ægean, lying south of the Troad, great part of which it once controlled, was particularly distinguished in the early literary history of ancient Greece, having produced what is called "the Æolian school" of lyric poetry. Alcæus, Sappho, Terpander and Arion were poets who sprang from Lesbos. The island was one of the important colonies of what was known as the Æolic migration, but became subject to Athens after the Persian War. In the fourth year of the Peloponnesian War its chief city, Mitylene (which afterwards gave its name to the entire island), seized the opportunity to revolt. The siege and reduction of Mytilene by the Athenians was one of the exciting incidents of that struggle.

_Thucydides, History, book 3._

ALSO IN: _G. Grote, History of Greece, part 2, chapters 14 and 50._

See, also, ASIA MINOR: THE GREEK COLONIES; and GREECE: B. C. 429-427.

LESBOS: B. C. 412. Revolt from Athens.

See GREECE: B. C. 413-412.

LESBOS: End--------

LESCHE, The.

The clubs of Sparta and Athens formed an important feature of the life of Greece. In every Grecian community there was a place of resort called the Lesche. In Sparta it was peculiarly the resort of old men, who assembled round a blazing fire in winter, and were listened to with profound respect by their juniors. These retreats were numerous in Athens.

_C. O. Müller, History and Antiquities of the Doric race, volume 2, page 396._

"The proper home of the Spartan art of speech, the original source of so many Spartan jokes current over all Greece, was the Lesche, the place of meeting for men at leisure, near the public drilling-grounds, where they met in small bands, and exchanged merry talk."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, volume 1, page 220 (American edition)._

LESCO V., Duke of Poland, A. D. 1194-1227.

Lesco VI., Duke of Poland, 1279-1289.

LESE-MAJESTY.

A term in English law signifying treason, borrowed from the Romans. The contriving, or counselling or consenting to the king's death, or sedition against the king, are included in the crime of "lese-majesty."

_W. Stubbs, Constitutional History of England, chapter 21, section 786._

LE TELLIER, and the suppression of Port Royal.

See PORT ROYAL AND THE JANSENISTS: A. D. 1702-1715.

LETTER OF MAJESTY, The.

See BOHEMIA. A. D. 1611-1618.

LETTERS OF MARQUE.

See PRIVATEERS.

LETTRE DE CACHET.

"In French history, a letter or order under seal; a private letter of state: a name given especially to a written order proceeding from and signed by the king, and countersigned by a secretary of state, and used at first as an occasional means of delaying the course of justice, but later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, as a warrant for the imprisonment without trial of a person obnoxious for any reason to the government, often for life or for a long period, and on frivolous pretexts. Lettres de cachet were abolished at the Revolution."

_Century Dictionary._

"The minister used to give generously blank lettres-de-cachet to the intendants, the bishops, and people in the administration. Saint-Florentin, alone, gave away as many as 50,000. Never had man's dearest treasure, liberty, been more lavishly squandered. These letters were the object of a profitable traffic; they were sold to fathers who wanted to get rid of their sons, and given to pretty women who were inconvenienced by their husbands. This last cause of imprisonment was one of the most prominent. And all through good-nature. The king [Louis XV.] was too good to refuse a lettre-de-cachet to a great lord. The intendant was too good-natured not to grant one at a lady's request. The government clerks, the mistresses of the clerks, and the friends of these mistresses, through good-nature, civility, or mere politeness, obtained, gave, or lent, those terrible orders by which a man was buried alive. Buried;—for such was the carelessness and levity of those amiable clerks,—almost all nobles, fashionable men, all occupied with their pleasures,—that they never had the time, when once the poor fellow was shut up, to think of his position."

_J. Michelet, Historical View of the French Revolution, introduction, part 2, section 9._

LETTS.

See LITHUANIANS.

LEUCADIA, LEUCAS.

Originally a peninsula of Acarnania, on the western coast of Greece, but converted into an island by the Corinthians, who cut a canal across its narrow neck. Its chief town, of the same name, was at one time the meeting place of the Acarnanian League. The high promontory at the south-western extremity of the island was celebrated for the temple of Apollo which crowned it, and as being the scene of the story of Sappho's suicidal leap from the Leucadian rock.

LEUCÆ, Battle of.

The kingdom of Pergamum having been bequeathed to the Romans by its last king, Attalus, a certain Aristonicus attempted to resist their possession of it, and Crassus, one of the consuls of B. C. 131 was sent against him. But Crassus had no success and was finally defeated and slain, near Leucæ. Aristonicus surrendered soon afterwards to M. Perperna and the war in Pergamum was ended.

_G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 1, chapter 14._

LEUCATE, Siege and Battle (1637).

See SPAIN: A. D. 1637-1640.

LEUCI, The.

A tribe in Belgic Gaul which occupied the southern part of the modern department of the Meuse, the greater part of the Meurthe, and the department of the Vosges.

_Napoleon III., History of Cæsar, book 3, chapter 2, footnote (volume 2)._

LEUCTRA, Battle of (B. C. 371).

See GREECE: B. C. 379-371.

LEUD, OR LIDUS, The.

See SLAVERY, MEDIÆVAL: GERMANY.

LEUDES.

"The Frankish warriors, but particularly the leaders, were called 'leudes,' from the Teutonic word 'leude,' 'liude,' 'leute,' people, as some think (Thierry, Lettres sur l'Hist. de Franc, p. 130). In the Scandinavian dialects, 'lide' means a warrior … ; and in the Kymric also 'lwydd' means an army or war-band. … It was not a title of dignity, as every free fighter among the Franks was a leud, but in process of time the term seems to have been restricted to the most prominent and powerful warriors alone."

_P. Godwin, History of France: Ancient Gaul, book 3, chapter 12, foot-note._

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LEUGA, The.

"The roads in the whole Roman empire were measured and marked according to the unit of the Roman mile (1.48 kilometer), and up to the end of the second century this applied also to those [the Gallic] provinces. But from Severus onward its place was taken in the three Gauls and the two Germanies by a mile correlated no doubt to the Roman, but yet different and with a Gallic name, the 'leuga' (2.222 kilomètres), equal to one and a half Roman miles. … The double 'leuga,' the German 'rasta,' … corresponds to the French 'lieue.'"

_T. Mommsen, History of the Romans, book 8, chapter 3._

LEUKAS.

See KORKYRA.

LEUKOPETRA, Battle of (B. C. 146).

See GREECE: B. C. 280-146.

LEUTHEN, Battle of.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1757 (JULY-DECEMBER).

LEVELLERS, The.

"Especially popular among the soldiers [of the Parliamentary Army, England, A. D. 1647-48], and keeping up their excitement more particularly against the House of Lords, were the pamphlets that came from John Lilburne, and an associate of his named Richard Overton. … These were the pamphlets … which … were popular with the common soldiers of the Parliamentary Army, and nursed that especial form of the democratic passion among them which longed to sweep away the House of Lords and see England governed by a single Representative House. Baxter, who reports this growth of democratic opinion in the Army from his own observation, distinctly recognises in it the beginnings of that rough ultra-Republican party which afterwards became formidable under the name of The Levellers."

_D. Masson, Life of John Milton, volume 3, book 4, chapter 1._

"They [the Levellers] had a vision of a pure and patriotic Parliament, accurately representing the people, yet carrying out a political programme incomprehensible to nine-tenths of the nation. This Parliament was to represent all legitimate varieties of thought, and was yet to act together as one man. The necessity for a Council of State they therefore entirely denied; and they denounced it as a new tyranny. The excise they condemned as an obstruction to trade. They would have no man compelled to fight, unless he felt free in his own conscience to do so. They appealed to the law of nature, and found their interpretation of it carrying them further and further away from English traditions and habits, whether of Church or State." A mutiny of the Levellers in the army, which broke out in April and May, 1640, was put down with stern vigor by Cromwell and Fairfax, several of the leaders being executed.

_J. A. Picton, Oliver Cromwell, chapter 17._

LEWES, Battle of.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1216-1274.

LEWIS AND CLARK'S EXPEDITION.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1804-1801.

LEXINGTON, Massachusetts: A. D. 1775. The beginning of the War of the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1775 (APRIL).

LEXINGTON: Start--------

LEXINGTON, MISSOURI, Siege of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (JULY-SEPTEMBER: MISSOURI).

LEXINGTON, MISSOURI: Battle at.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MARCH-OCTOBER: ARKANSAS-MISSOURI).

LEXINGTON: End--------

LEXOVII, The.

The Lexovii were one of the tribes of northwestern Gaul, in the time of Cæsar. Their position is indicated and their name, in a modified form, preserved by the town of Lisieux between Caen and Evreux.

_G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 4, chapter 6._

LEYDEN: Start--------

LEYDEN: A. D. 1574. Siege by the Spaniards. Relief by the flooding of the land. The founding of the University.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1573-1574; and EDUCATION, RENAISSANCE: NETHERLANDS.

LEYDEN: A. D. 1609-1620. The Sojourn of the Pilgrim Fathers.

See INDEPENDENTS: A. D. 1604-1617.

LEYDEN: End--------

LHASSA, the seat of the Grand Lama.

See LAMAS.

LIA-FAIL, The.

"The Tuatha-de-Danaan [the people who preceded the Milesians in colonizing Ireland, according to the fabulous Irish histories] brought with them from Scandinavia, among other extraordinary things, three marvellous treasures, the Lia-Fail, or Stone of Destiny, the Sorcerer's Spear, and the Magic Caldron, all celebrated in the old Irish romances. The Lia-Fail possessed the remarkable property of making a strange noise and becoming wonderfully disturbed, whenever a monarch of Ireland of pure blood was crowned, and a prophecy was attached to it, that whatever country possessed it should be ruled over by a king of Irish descent, and enjoy uninterrupted success and prosperity. It was preserved at Cashel, where the kings of Munster were crowned upon it. According to some writers it was afterwards kept at the Hill of Tara, where it remained until it was carried to Scotland by an Irish prince, who succeeded to the crown of that country. There it was preserved at Scone, until Edward I. carried it away into England, and placed it under the seat of the coronation chair of our kings, where it still remains. … It seems to be the opinion of some modern antiquarians that a pillar stone still remaining at the Hill of Tara is the true Lia-Fail, which in that case was not carried to Scotland."

_T. Wright, History of Ireland, book 1, chapter 2, and foot-note._

See, also, SCOTLAND: 8TH-9TH CENTURIES.

LIBBY PRISON.

See PRISONS AND PRISON-PENS, CONFEDERATE.

LIBERAL ARTS, The Seven.

See EDUCATION, MEDIÆVAL: SCHOLASTICISM,

LIBERAL REPUBLICAN PARTY.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1872.

LIBERAL UNIONISTS.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1885-1886.

LIBERI HOMINES.

See SLAVERY, MEDIÆVAL: ENGLAND.

LIBERIA, The founding of the Republic of.

See SLAVERY, NEGRO: A. D. 1816-1847.

LIBERTINES OF GENEVA, The.

The party which opposed Calvin's austere and arbitrary rule in Geneva were called Libertines.

_F. P. Guizot, John Calvin, chapter 9-16._

LIBERTINI.

See INGENUI.

LIBERTY BELL, The.

See INDEPENDENCE HALL.

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LIBERTY BOYS.

The name by which the Sons of Liberty of the American Revolution were familiarly known.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765; NEW YORK: A. D. 1773-1774; and LIBERTY TREE.

LIBERTY CAP.

"This emblem, like many similar ones received by the revolutions from the hand of chance, was a mystery even to those who wore it. It had been adopted [at Paris] for the first time on the day of the triumph of the soldiers of Châteauvieux [April 15, 1792, when 41 Swiss soldiers of the regiment of Châteauvieux, condemned to the galleys for participation in a dangerous mutiny of the garrison at Nancy in 1790, but liberated in compliance with the demands of the mob, were fêted as heroes by the Jacobins of Paris]. Some said it was the coiffure of the galley-slaves, once infamous, but glorious since it had covered the brows of these martyrs of the insurrection; and they added that the people wished to purify this head-dress from every stain by wearing it themselves. Others only saw in it the Phrygian bonnet, a symbol of freedom for slaves. The 'bonnet rouge' had from its first appearance been the subject of dispute and dissension amongst the Jacobins; the 'exaltés' wore it, whilst the 'modérés' yet abstained from adopting it." Robespierre and his immediate followers opposed the "frivolity" of the "bonnet rouge," and momentarily suppressed it in the Assembly. "But even the voice of Robespierre, and the resolutions of the Jacobins, could not arrest the outbreak of enthusiasm that had placed the sign of 'avenging equality' ('l'égalité vengeresse') on every head; and the evening of the day on which it was repudiated at the Jacobins' saw it inaugurated at all the theatres. The bust of Voltaire, the destroyer of prejudice, was adorned with the Phrygian cap of liberty, amidst the shouts of the spectators, whilst the cap and pike became the uniform and weapon of the citizen soldier."

_A. de Lamartine, History of the Girondists, book 13 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN: _H. M. Stephens, History of the French Revolution, volume 2, chapter 2._

LIBERTY GAP, Battle of.

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

LIBERTY PARTY AND LIBERTY LEAGUE.

See SLAVERY, NEGRO: A. D. 1840-1847.

LIBERTY TREE AND LIBERTY HALL.

"Lafayette said, when in Boston, 'The world should never forget the spot where once stood Liberty Tree, so famous in your annals.' … The open space at the four corners of Washington, Essex, and Boylston streets was once known as Hanover Square, from the royal house of Hanover, and sometimes as the Elm Neighborhood, from the magnificent elms with which it was environed. It was one of the finest of these that obtained the name of Liberty Tree, from its being used on the first occasion of resistance to the obnoxious Stamp Act. … At daybreak on the 14th August, 1765, nearly ten years before active hostilities broke out, an effigy of Mr. Oliver, the Stamp officer, and a boot, with the Devil peeping out of it,—an allusion to Lord Bute,—was discovered hanging from Liberty Tree. The images remained hanging all day, and were visited by great numbers of people, both from the town and the neighboring country. Business was almost suspended. Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson ordered the sheriff to take the figures down, but he was obliged to admit that he dared not do so. As the day closed in the effigies were taken down, placed upon a bier, and, followed by several thousand people of every class and condition," were borne through the city and then burned, after which much riotous conduct on the part of the crowd occurred. In 1766, when the repeal of the Stamp Act took place, a large copper plate was fastened to the tree, inscribed in golden characters:—'This tree was planted in the year 1646, and pruned by order of the Sons of Liberty, February 14th, 1766.' … The ground immediately about Liberty Tree was popularly known as Liberty Hall. In August, 1767, a flagstaff had been erected, which went through and extended above its highest branches. A flag hoisted upon this staff was the signal for the assembling of the Sons of Liberty. … In August, 1775, the name of Liberty having become offensive to the Tories and their British allies, the tree was cut down by a party led by one Job Williams."

_S. A. Drake, Old Landmarks of Boston, chapter 14._

LIBERUM VETO, The.

See POLAND: A. D. 1578-1652.

LIBRA, The Roman.

The ancient Roman unit of weight was the libra, or pondus, from which the modern names of the livre and pound are derived. Its weight was equal to 5,015 Troy gr. or 325 grams, and it was identical with the Greek-Asiatic mina."

_H. W. Chisholm, Science of Weighing and Measuring, chapter 2._

See, also, AS.

LIBRARIES: Start--------

LIBRARIES: Ancient, Babylonia and Assyria.

"The Babylonians were … essentially a reading and writing people. … Books were numerous and students were many. The books were for the most part written upon clay [tablets] with a wooden reed or metal stylus, for clay was cheap and plentiful, and easily impressed with the wedge-shaped lines of which the characters were composed. But besides clay, papyrus and possibly also parchment were employed as writing materials; at all events the papyrus is referred to in the texts."

_A. H. Sayce, Social Life among the Assyrians and Babylonians, page 30._