GHERBA 



GHIKA 



Ghent. Plan of the city, showing principal buildings and docks 



built mainly in the 14th century, 

 stands in. the centre of the town, 

 and not far off is the castle of the 

 counts of Flanders, a typical me- 

 dieval stronghold founded in the 

 9th and rebuilt in the 12th cen- 

 tury, the seat of the] Council of 

 Flanders from 1407 to 1778. 



The history of Ghent is closely 

 interwoven with that of Flanders. 

 It was in existence by the middle 

 of the 7th century, and Baldwin, 

 1st count of Flanders, made it one 

 of his strong points in 868. During 

 the 13th-15th centuries Ghent be- 

 came one of the greatest marts of 

 W. Europe, and the burghers, al- 

 ways known for their turbulence 

 and independence, increased their 

 strength by their accumulated 

 wealth ; the story of the Van Arte- 

 veldes, and the determined revolt 

 against Philip of Burgundy, 1448- 

 53, were typical of Ghent's char- 

 acter in those days. At the same 

 time the arts flourished in Ghent, 

 which the Van Eycks made a 



great centre of Flemish painting. 

 During the troubled times of the 

 16th century the city suffered 

 severely, especially after her surren- 

 der to the duke of Parma in 1584. 



In 1794 Ghent was made the 

 capital of the newly created French 

 dept. of the Schelde, but became 

 part of the United Netherlands in 

 1814, and part of Belgium in 1830. 

 Several treaties are named from 

 their having been concluded here, 

 notably the pacification of Ghent, 

 by which the N. and S. provs. 

 united against Spain in 1576, and 

 the peace of Ghent between Britain 

 and America, 1814. 



Ghent was occupied by the Ger- 

 mans during the Great War on 

 Oct. 12, 19J4. The city was re- 

 captured by the Belgians Nov. 11, 

 1918. See Belgium ; Flanders. 



Gherba. Island in the Gulf of 

 Gabes, Mediterranean Sea, belong- 

 ing to France. It lies off the E. 

 coast of Tunis, 12 m. E.S.E. of 

 Sfax and S.W. of the island of Ker- 



kena, from which it is separated by 

 a narrow strait. It is 10 m. in 

 length from W. to E., and 5 m. 

 from N.. to S. 



Ghetto (Ital.). Word translated 

 into English as Jewry, and mean- 

 ing a part of a town inhabited en- 

 tirely by Jews. See Jewry. 



Ghevgeli OR GEVCELI. Town of 

 Yugo-Slavia, 35 m. N.W. of Sa- 

 lonica. Occupied by the British at 

 the beginning of Nov., 1915, it was 

 evacuated, the Bulgarians entering 

 it on Dec. 12. It was recaptured by 

 the Allies Sept. 22, 1918. See Sa- 

 lonica, Expedition to ; Serbia, 

 Conquest of. 



Ghi on GHEE (Hind, from ghar, 

 to drip). Clarified butter used in 

 the East not only for food but also 

 medicinally and in religious cere- 

 monies. The butter is heated and 

 skimmed or strained till it becomes 

 a semi-solid oil which may be kept 

 for years. 



Ghibellines. Italian political 

 faction. It originated in Germany, 

 the story being that in a fight near 

 Weinsberg, in 1140, between the 

 German king Conrad III, one of 

 the Hohenstaufen family, and the 

 ruler of Bavaria, Welf, the troop 

 of the latter called out as a rallying 

 cry Welf, to which the others re- 

 plied with Waiblingen, the name 

 of Conrad's castle. Welf became 

 Guelph, and Waiblingen became 

 Ghibelline. See Florence ; Guelphs 

 and Ghibellines. 



Ghiberti, LOREXZO (1378-1455)- 

 Italian sculptor. Born at Flor- 

 ence, he began his career as a gold- 

 smith, a craft 

 which gave 

 him wonderful 

 facility in 

 drawing, mod- 

 e 11 ing, and 

 design. By far 

 h i s greatest 

 work was the 

 two magnifi- 

 cent bronze 

 gates for the 

 baptistery in 

 Florence, unrivalled examples of 

 this kind of bas-relief, which 

 Michelangelo declared to be fit 

 for the gates of Paradise. The 

 first of the gates, which illustrate 

 Biblical subjects, occupied Ghi- 

 berti for 21 years, 1403-24, and 

 the second for 23 years, 1424-47. 

 See Door, illus. 



Ghika, ION (1817-97). Ru- 

 manian diplomatist. Grandson of 

 Scarlat Ghika, prince of Wallachia, 

 he early developed strong revolu- 

 tionary principles which necessi- 

 tated his living in obscurity. He 

 became professor of mathematics 

 at Jassy University, while from 

 1853 to 1859 he was bey of Samos, 



Lorenzo Ghiberti, 

 Italian sculptor 



From an old print 



