GOLDEN BULL 



3586 



GOLDEN HORDE 



Golden Bull (Lat. bulla, knob, 

 seal). Name given to charters of 

 unusual importance, sealed or 

 stamped with a golden seal or bull. 

 A great number of these was issued 

 in Germany in the Middle Ages, 

 but the name is specially given 10 

 the document that regulated the 

 election of the German kings from 

 1356 to 1806. f 



To determine the disputes as to 

 who were entitled to elect the kings 

 in Germany, the emperor Charles 

 IV ordered a bull to be drawn up, 

 and after some alterations the 

 princes, meeting at Metz, accepted 

 it in Dec., 1356. Written in Latin, 

 this Golden Bull contains 31 chap- 

 ters which fix the numbers of 

 electors at seven, nominate the 

 seven, and prescribe their respec- 

 tive precedence and duties. Frank- 

 fort is fixed upon as the seat of the 

 elections, the rules for the corona- 

 tion are declared, and further 



Golden-crested Wren, a small bird 

 living in pine woods 



and constructs its tiny nest of 

 moss and lichens underneath a 

 bough. It is 3 1 ins. long and has 

 a crest ot yellow feathers. 



Golden Eye (Glangula glaucion). 

 Wild duck found in the north- 

 ern districts of both hemispheres. 

 It visits Great Britain in the winter. 

 The plumage is black on the back, 

 with white beneath, and the drake 



Golden Fleece, ORDER OF THE. 

 One of the premier European 

 orders of knighthood. It was 

 founded Jan. 10, 

 1429, by Philip 

 the Good, duke 

 of Burgundy, on 

 his marriage with 

 Isabella of Por- 

 tugal, and dedicat- 

 ed to the Virgin 

 Mary and S. An- 

 drew. The grand- 

 mastership passed 

 by marriage to 

 theHapsburgs,and 

 when the Haps- 

 burg dynasty in 

 Spain came to an Golden Fleece, 

 end in 1700, was Badge of the 

 claimed by the order 



emperor Charles VI, who estab- 

 lished the order in Vienna in 1713. 

 Since then the order . has existed 

 independently in both Spain and 



Golden Gate, California. View, irom the south, of the channel which connects San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean 



clauses deal with such matters 

 as the rights of the cities and of the 

 king of Bohemia. 



In general the bull greatly 

 strengthened the power of the 

 electors, that of the minor princes 

 and the cities being correspond- 

 ingly reduced. It remained opera- 

 tive until the dissolution of the 

 Empire in 1806. Various copies of 

 the bull are in existence in German 

 cities, and there is an English trans- 

 lation of it in E. F. Henderson's 

 Select Historical Documents of 

 the .Middle Ages. See Electors ; 

 Empire, Holy Roman. 



Golden Calf. Image made by 

 Aaron, in response to popular ap- 

 peal, during the absence of Moses 

 on the mount (Gen. 32). It was in 

 the form of a young bull and made 

 from earrings of gold. Divine 

 honours were paid to it, but it is 

 doubtful if it involved a breach of 

 the first or the second command- 

 ment. Jeroboam set up similar 

 images at Dan and Bethel (1 Kings 

 12). See Aaron ; Idolatry. 



Golden - crested Wren OR 

 GOLDCKEST (R'-yulus crislalus). 

 Small British bird. It is not a 

 true wren, but belongs to the 

 warbler group. It is common in 

 the pine forests in most parts of 

 Europe, where it feeds on insects 



has a bright green head. The name, 

 derived from the yellow colour of 

 the eye, is sometimes also applied 

 to the tufted duck. 



Golden Eye, a winter visitant of the 

 British Isles 



Golden Fleece. In Greek my- 

 thology, the object of the quest of 

 Jason and the Argonauts. When 

 Phrixus and Helle, children of 

 Athamas, king of Thebes, and 

 Nephele, were about to be sacri- 

 ficed, owing to the intrigues of Ino, 

 liis second wife, a ram with a golden 

 fleece and wings appeared, and 

 bore them away through the air. 

 Helle fell into the sea, but Phrixus 

 arrived safely at Colchis, where he 

 sacrificed the rain. Aeetes, king of 

 the country, hung up the fleece in 

 the sacred grove of Ares. See 

 Argonauts ; Jason. 



Austria. The badge is a golden fleece 

 attached by f urisons, or flint-stones, 

 emitting flames, to a red ribbon 

 worn round the neck, or, on high 

 occasions, to a chain of alternate 

 flint-stones and steels intertwined 

 to represent B, the initial letter of 

 Burgundy. The origin of the badge 

 and name is uncertain. 



Golden Gate. Channel connect- 

 ing San Francisco Bay, California, 

 U.S.A., with the Pacific Ocean. It 

 is 5 m. long and from 1 in. to '2 in. 

 broad, and has bold and rocky 

 shores, rising on the N. side to 200 

 ft. See San Francisco. 



Golden Horde. Name given to 

 a body of Tartars who invaded 

 Europe in the 13th century. They 

 belonged to a branch of the race 

 known as Kipchacks. Led by Batu, 

 a grandson of Jenghis Khan, they 

 crossed Russia into Hungary about 

 1 237. Attempts to stop them failed 

 until 1241, when they were checked, 

 and settled on the Volga. 



Under Batu's son the empire, or 

 khanate, was consolidated. The 

 race became Mahomedans, but 

 soon their power began to fail. 

 About 1395 they were defeated by 

 Timur, and by about 1500 they had 

 disappeared. The name golden 

 horde was due to the splendid camp 

 (Turk, ordu) set up by Batu. 





