734 



HOHENSTAUFEN 



HOLBEIN 



HoheilStailfeil, a German princely house, 

 members of which held the imperial throne from 

 1138 to 1254. The founder of the family was 

 FREDERICK VON BUREN, who lived about the 

 middle of the llth century. His son Frederick 

 assumed the name of Hohenstaufen from a castle 

 which he built on the hill of Staufen (2240 feet), 

 25 miles E. of Stuttgart. He was invested with 

 the duchy of Swabia by the Emperor Henry IV., 

 and during the absence of the latter in Italy acted 

 as vicegerent of the empire. Frederick, at his 

 death in 1105, left two sons Frederick II. the 

 One-eyed, and Conrad. The former was confirmed 

 in the duchy of Swabia; and in 1112 the latter 

 received the duchy of Franconia. After the death 

 of Henry V. this emperor's family estates fell to the 

 House of Hohenstaufen ; and Lothaire of Saxony 

 was elected his successor in the empire. Lothaire 

 revoked the grants made to the Hohenstaufens, 

 and thus gave rise to a furious war, in which 

 Frederick (his brother Conrad being absent in the 

 Holy Land) had to encounter, single-handed, the 

 whole power of the emperor, the House of Zahrin- 

 gen, and Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria and 

 Saxony. After Conrad's return fortune at first 

 seemed to favour the brothers, but in 1135 they 

 were compelled to submit and plead for the 

 emperor's forgiveness. They were then put in 

 possession of all their estates. Conrad, in 1138, 

 was elected emperor of Germany as Conrad III. 

 The succeeding emperors of this family were 

 Frederick I. (1152-90), Henry VI. (1190-97), 

 Philip I. (1198-1208), Frederick II. (1212-50), and 

 Conrad IV. (1250-54). Manfred, half-brother of 

 the last named, lost his life in the battle of Bene- 

 vento (1266), whilst asserting his rights to the 

 throne of the Two Sicilies ; and Coriradin, son of 

 Conrad IV., was put to death (1268) by Charles 

 of Anjou for carrying on the struggle. See 

 Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen (5th ed. 

 1878); GERMANY; and the articles on the several 

 emperors. 



Hoheiisteill, a Saxon town, with textile in- 

 dustries, 12 miles NE. of Zwickau. Pop. 6827. 



HoheilZOlleril, two united principalities 

 (Hechingen and Sigmaringen) of south Germany, 

 but belonging to Prussia, consist of a narrow strip 

 of land entirely surrounded by Wiirtemberg ana 

 Baden. Area, 441 sq. m. ; pop. (1890) 66,085, 

 mostly Roman Catholics. The territory, whose 

 surface is generally mountainous, stretches south- 

 east from the Black Forest, across the Neckar 

 and the Danube. The principal industries are 

 agriculture and the rearing of cattle. Iron ore, 

 gypsum, salt, and coal exist, as well as some 

 mineral springs. The seat of government is 

 Sigmaringen (4146). 



The Hohenzollern family traces its descent from 

 Count Thassilo, who lived about the beginning of 

 the 9th century, and founded a castle near Hechin- 



fen, on the Zollern hill in the Swabian Alb, whence 

 is descendants derived their patronymic. About 

 1 165 the first separation took place, Frederick IV. 

 founding the elder or Swabian and Conrad III. the 

 younger or Franconian line. The elder line was 

 subdivided, in 1576, into the branches of Hechingen 

 and Sigmaringen. Frederick VI., the representa- 

 tive of the younger line, in 1415 received from the 

 Emperor Sigismund the investiture of the elector- 

 ate of Brandenburg, thus founding the reigning 

 dynasty of Prussia. The two branches of the elder 

 line continued unbroken till 1849, when the reign- 

 ing princes ceded their respective rights and prin- 

 cipalities to the king of Prussia, who agreed to 

 pay them annual pensions. See GERMANY, Vol. V. 

 p. 184. 



Hoists. See LIFTS. 



II okil ika. the capital of Westland, New Zea- 

 land, and the chief town on the west coast, is the 

 chief centre of a gold-producing and agricultural 

 district. Pop. 2178. 



Hokusai. See JAPAN. 



HolacantbllS, a genus of fishes, in character 

 and distribution similar to the Chsetodon (q.v.). 

 They are remarkable for the great beauty and 

 symmetry of their colours, and for their excellence 

 as articles of food. The body is compressed, and 

 the gill-cover bears a strong spine. One of the 

 best known of the forty species, called Emperor of 

 Japan by the Dutch, is H. imperator, one of the 

 most esteemed fishes of the East Indies, rivalling 

 the salmon in flavour. Its greatest size is about 15 

 inches long ; its colour is deep blue, with numerous 

 narrow bands of orange, the pectoral fins black, the 

 tail bright yellow. In beauty it is rivalled by an 

 allied species, H. diacanthus, of similar distribu- 

 tion. 



Holbach, PAUL HEINRICH DIETRICH, BARON 

 D', philosopher, and one of the French encyclo- 

 paedists of the 18th century, was born of wealthy 

 parentage, at Heidelsheim, in the Palatinate, 

 in 1723. At an early age he went to Paris, 

 where he continued to reside during the remain- 

 der of his life. He died 21st June 1789. As 

 Holbach was remarkable for his agreeable social 

 qualities, and kept a good table, the most eminent 

 thinkers and writers of the day, such as Condorcet, 

 Diderot, Duclos, Helvetius, Raynal, Rousseau, 

 Button, &c., were in the habit of assembling at his 

 house. The witty Abbe Galiani called Holbach 

 the maitre d'kdtel of philosophy. Here specula- 

 tion, it is said, was carried to such daring lengths 

 that Buffon, D'Alembert, and Rousseau were com- 

 pelled to withdraw from the circle. Holbach 

 was the zealous champion of naturalism, and con- 

 tended not only against Christianity, but against 

 every positive religion. His principal work is 

 the Systeme de la Nature (2 vols. 1770). In it 

 the author endeavours to expound the natural 

 principles of morality, and to investigate the origin 

 of the conflicting opinions on virtue and vice. He 

 discusses the maxims of religious morality, and 

 takes a rapid survey of social and savage life. 

 He touches on the so-called ' social compact,' 

 and in the course of his observations tries to 

 prove, among other things, that self-interest is 

 the ruling motive of man, and that God is only 

 an ideal being, created by kings and priests. 

 The materialism of the French philosophes of the 

 18th century is nowhere more pernicious and paltry 

 than in the writings of Holbach. It is but fair to 

 state that his life was better than his books. He 

 was a man of good heart, and, in spite of his 

 theories, of most unselfish benevolence. When 

 the Jesuits fell into disgrace during the reign of 

 Louis XV., Holbach, though he hated their system, 

 and had written against them in the days of their 

 prosperity, made his house an asylum for his old 

 foes when the clouds gathered round them. See 

 an article by J. Morley in the Fortnightly, 1877. 



Holbeadl, a market-town of south Lincoln- 

 shire, 1\ miles by rail ENE. of Spalding. It has 

 a fine Decorated church, with a spire 189 feet high ; 

 and Roman remains have been found here. Pop. 

 of parish ( 1851 ) 5191 ; ( 1881 ) 5190 ; ( 1891 ) 4771. 



Holbein, HANS, the younger, one of the most 

 celebrated of painters, was born at Augsburg in 

 1494 or (more likely) 1495, the son of Hans Holbein 

 the elder (c. 1460-1524), also a painter, and known 

 by such works as ' The Basilica of St Paul,' 

 now in the Augsburg Gallery. He was instructed 

 in art by his father, and his earlier efforts were 

 influenced by the works of Hans Burgkmair, who, 

 according to such authorities as Stetten, was 



