NICEPHORUS 



5734 



NICHOLAS I 



Nice Fiance. View from the air of the Promenade des Anglais, the fashionable 

 seaside promenade, looking toward the Jardin Publique, beyond which is the casino 



times the chief occupation is 

 catering for holiday visitors. The 

 annual carnival is held in April ; 

 other features of the season are 

 the races, the regattas, and the 

 aviation meeting. Nice has a 

 harbour, some shipping, and 

 steamer connexion with various 

 Mediterranean ports. 



Nice, the Greek Nicaea, was 

 founded about 350 B.C. by 

 Phocaeans from Marseilles, though 

 earlier there had been a Phoenician 

 settlement there. It became in 

 the Middle Ages connected politi- 

 cally with Italy, and was ruled by 

 one or other of that country's 

 princes. Several times in the 17th 

 and 18th centuries it was taken by 

 the French, until in 1793 it became 

 for a few years part of France. 

 From 1814-60 under the king of 

 Sardinia, it was ceded to France in 

 1860. Pop. 143,000. See Corniche. 

 Pron. Neece. 



Nicephorus. East Roman 

 emperor, 1078-81. General of 

 the army of the East under Michael 

 VII, on the latter's resignation he 

 was proclaimed emperor by the 

 troops at Nicaea and crowned in 

 Constantinople, April 3, 1078. 

 During his reign the Seljuk Turks 

 gained possession of Asia Minor 

 except the coasts, and lower Italy 

 fell into the hands of the Normans. 

 His general, Alexius Comnenus 

 (q.v.), who had hitherto loyally 

 supported him, raised the standard 

 of revolt, and Nicephorus abdicated 

 and retired to a convent, Alexius 

 being crowned in S. Sophia, April 2, 

 1081. Nicephorus was the last 

 emperor of the Armenian or Mace- 

 donian dynasty, which had lasted 

 from 867. See Byzantine Empire. 

 Pron. Niseeforus. 



Nicholas. Masculine Christian 

 name. Of Greek origin, it means 

 victory of the people. It is 

 specially popular in Russia and 

 other countries where the Greek 

 Church is strong. 



Nicholas OR NICOLAS (d. c. 342). 

 Bishop and saint. A native of 

 Patara, in Lycia, Asia Minor, he 

 became archbishop of Myra, and 

 opposed the Arians at the Council 

 of Nicaea. Buried in his cathedral 

 at Myra, his supposed remains were 

 reinterred in 1087 in the church of 

 San Nicola, Bari, Italy, where they 

 are visited annually by thousands of 

 pilgrims He is the patron saint of 

 Russia and of seafarers, travellers, 

 merchants, children, and those 

 overtaken by sudden danger. The 

 popular name Santa Glaus is a 

 corruption of S. Nicholas. His fes- 

 tival is kept on Dec. 6 ; that of his 

 translation on May 9. In addition 

 to the cathedral at Newcastle and 

 a chapel in York Minster, more 

 than 370 English churches are dedi- 

 cated to him. and he is the subject 

 of notable works by Titian, 

 Lorenzo Lotto, Raphael, and other 

 artists, and of innumerable legends. 



Nicholas. Name of five popes. 

 Nicholas I, pope from 858-67, 

 largely developed the papal power, 

 excommunicating Photius, the in- 

 truded patriarch of Constantinople, 

 and various Frankish archbishops 

 who disputed the papal supremacy. 

 Nicholas II, pope from 1058-61, 

 was the nominee of Hildebrand. 

 The anti-pope Benedict X was de- 

 posed in his favour, and his chief 

 work was to free the papal elec- 

 tions from the Roman factions and 

 the control of the emperor. His 

 name was Gerhard of Burgundy. 

 Nicholas III belonged to the Roman 



Orsini family and was pope from 

 1277-80. - His policy was to 

 strengthen the papacy by checking 

 the imperial influence in Italy. He 

 made the Vatican the official papal 

 residence. Nicholas IV, pope from 

 1288-92, was of humble family and 

 the first Franciscan pope. 



Nicholas V (1397-1455). Pope 

 from 1447-55. By name Tommaso 

 Parentucelli, and a native of 

 Liguria, he was 

 educated at 

 Bologna, and 

 became its 

 bishop in 1443. 

 He was created 

 cardinal in 

 1446, and elect- 

 ed pope the 

 following year. 

 His pontificate 

 was notable for 

 the architectural improvements 

 carried out in Rome. These in- 

 cluded not only the building of 

 churches, the paving of the streets, 

 and the provision of an adequate 

 water supply by means of the 

 ancient aqueducts on which Rome 

 had once depended, but the re- 

 building of the Vatican and the 

 basilica of S. Peter, and the foun- 

 dation of the Vatican Library, 

 which Nicholas also enriched with 

 treasures drawn from all lands. He 

 died at Rome, March 24-25, 1455. 



Nicholas I (1796-1855). Tsar 

 of Russia. Born at St. Petersburg, 

 July 6, 1796, third son of Paul I 

 and Maria 

 Feodorovna of 

 Wiirttemberg, 

 he received a 

 careful educa- 

 tion under his 

 mother'ssuper- 

 vision, and in 

 1814-15 visited 

 several Euro- 

 pean countries. 

 On his return 

 to Russia, July 13, 1817, ho mar- 

 ried Charlotte, eldest daughter of 

 Frederick William III of Prussia. j 

 His elder brother Constantino re- j 

 nouncing his claim to the throne, I 

 Nicholas succeeded Alexander I, ] 

 Dec. 1, 1825, and was formally 

 crowned at Moscow, Sept. 3, 1826. 



His accession was the occasion of 

 a mutiny among Constantine's 

 adherents in the army, in dealing 

 with which he displayed great 

 personal courage and firmness. 

 His foreign policy was directed 

 towards the East, and particularly 

 the conquest of Turkey. The war 

 with Persia, concluded Feb 28, 

 1828, much increased Russia's 

 foreign territory. Nicholas died 

 March 2, 1855, six months before 

 the fall of Sevastopol. See The 

 Romanoffs, H. S. Edwards, 1890. 



