FRANCOIS DE NEUFCHATEAU FRANK. 



Franciscans, under the name (if Observantines, which, 

 in 1517, when Leo X. effected an accommodation 

 between the different parties, retained the superiority. 

 Since that time, the u r 'iieral of the Observant ines lias 

 been the general minister of the whole order (the 

 Franciscans use this term, minister, servant, by way 

 ot humility). The Cordeliers are a branch of the 

 Franciscans in France. The Rifwrmati in Italy, and 

 the Recollects, formerly numerous in France (so called 

 because they lived a strictly meditative life), belong 

 to the brethren of the observance. The strictest are 

 the Alcantarines, who follow the reforms introduced 

 by Peter of Alcantara, and go with their feet entirely 

 bare. They are numerous in Spain and Portugal, but 

 not in Italy. The branches of the Observants, under 

 their common general, form two families the cis- 

 montane, who have sixty-six provinces, now generally 

 in a feeble state, in Italy and Upper Germany, in 

 Hungary, Poland, Palestine, and Syria; the ultra- 

 montane, with eighty-one provinces, in Spain, Portu- 

 gal, Asia, Africa, America, and the islands. That 

 portion of the Franciscans who wear shoes, or the 

 conventuals, are much less numerous. Before the 

 French revolution of 1789, they had thirty provinces, 

 with a hundred convents and 15,000 monks. They 

 are now found only here and there in the south 

 of Germany, in Switzerland and Italy, where they 

 have given up begging, and serve as professors in 

 the colleges. A coarse woollen frock, with a cord 

 round the waist, to which a rope with a knotted 

 scourge is suspended, is the common dress of all the 

 Franciscans. In 1528, Matthew of Bassi founded the 

 Capuchins, a branch of the Minorites, still more 

 strict than the Observantines. Since. 1619, they 

 have had a particular general. In the eighteenth 

 century, they had 1700 convents, with 25,000 

 members. 



St Francis himself collected nuns in 1209, who 

 were sometimes called Damianistines , from their 

 first church at St Daroian, in Assisi. St Clare was 

 their prioress ; hence they were also called the nuns 

 of Si Clare. The nuns were also divided Into branches, 

 according to the severity of their rules. The Urban- 

 ists were a branch founded by pope Urban IV.; they 

 revered St Isabelle, daughter of Louis VIII. of France, 

 as their mother. Other branches are the female Capu- 

 chins and barefooted nuns, of the strictest observance; 

 also the Annuntiata. In tile eighteenth century, 

 there were 28,000 Franciscan nuns, in 900 convents. 

 They were formerly supported by the alms collected 

 by the monks ; they now live by the revenues of their 

 convents. St Francis also founded, in 1221, a third 

 order, of both sexes, for persons who did not wish to 

 take the monastic vows, and yet desired to adopt a 

 few of the easier observances. They are called Ter- 

 tiarians, and were very numerous in the thirteenth 

 century. From them proceeded several heretical 

 fraternities, as the Fraticelli, Beghards, and the Pic- 

 puses, as the strict Tertiarians in France were called. 

 The whole number of Franciscans and Capuchins, in 

 the eighteenth century, amounted to 115,000 monks, 

 in 7000 convents. At present, it is not, probably, 

 one-third so great, as they have been suppressed in 

 most countries. In Austria, they are not allowed to 

 re ceive novices. The order flourishes in South Ame- 

 rica. In Jerusalem, they watch the holy sepulchre ; 

 and, in the Catholic cantons of Switzerland, they are 

 engaged in the education of the young. 



FRANCOIS DE NEUFCHATEAU, NICHOLAS, 

 count, member of the French national institute, was 

 born April 17, 1750, in Lorraine, and early displayed 

 a poetical taste. Before he had finished his thirteenth 

 year, he had published a collection of poems, of which 

 Voltaire expressed a favourable opinion. He was 

 elected a member of several provincial academies in 



France, and was expected to become a star of the 

 6rst magnitude in French poetry. This expectation, 

 however, was not fulfilled ; but Francois distin- 

 guished himself, during the revolution, as a patriot, 

 an able statesman, and a good citizen. In 1782, lie 

 was appointed attorney-gene ral of St Domingo, where 

 he translated Orlando Furioso into French verse ; but 

 the manuscript was lost in a shipwreck which h 

 suffered on his return. During the revolution, he 

 distinguished himself as a friend of liberty, and, in 

 1792, was elected a deputy to the second national 

 assembly. His play Pamela, performed in 1793, hav- 

 ing given offence on account of its moderation, he was 

 thrown into prison, from which he was delivered by 

 the 9th of Thermidor. In 1797, he was made 

 minister of the interior; and, after the 18th of Fruc- 

 tidor, he became a member of the directory, in the 

 place of Carnot. But he was soon removed on ac- 

 count of his moderation, and was commissioned to 

 obtain from count Cobentzl, at Seltz, satisfaction for 

 the insult offered to Bernadotte, the French ambas- 

 sador at Vienna. June 17, 1798, he was a second 

 time appointed minister of the interior, and introduced 

 the exhibition of products of domestic industry, 

 which has taken place ever since, every four or five 

 years, and has been imitated in other countries. He 

 was removed from this post previously to the 18th 

 of Brumaire. Napoleon created him senator, and, in 

 1808, count. He ceased, however, to take any further 

 part in public affairs, and devoted himself to his lite- 

 rary pursuits. He died in Paris, January 9, 1828. 



FRANCONIA (in German, Franken or Frankis- 

 cher Kreis, circle of Franconia) ; one of the ten cir- 

 cles into which the German empire was formerly 

 divided, comprising one of the finest parts of G ermany . 

 The Maine flows through it from east to west. It 

 was bounded by Suabia, the Rhenish provinces, 

 Saxony, Bohemia, and Bavaria. It belongs, at pre- 

 sent, mostly to Bavaria. It formerly contained 

 1,500,000 inhabitants, on about 10,500 square miles. 



FRANCONIAN WINES; German wines pro- 

 duced chiefly in the Bavarian circle of the Lower 

 Maine. The best sort is the Leistenwein, which, 

 after it has acquired a certain age, is superior to any 

 other German wine for its agreeable aroma. Another 

 sort is the well -known Steinwein, inferior to the for- 

 mer in softness and flavour. Other good wines are 

 the fFerth/ieimer and Dettelbacher. As Wurzburg 

 is the uearest large city, and carries on a considerable 

 trade in these wines, they are often called JVuvtzburg 

 wines. The best years of recent date are 1783, 

 1791, 1811, 1819, and 1820. 



FRANK ; the name applied in the East to all 

 Christians, probably because the French, descend- 

 ants of the German Franks, particularly distinguished 

 themselves in the crusades. The Greeks, who were 

 accustomed to adopt the Turkish habits, also call the 

 Europeans of the West, or, according to the expres- 

 sion of the people, " the men with round hats and 

 no beards," Franks. The Lingua Franca is that 

 jargon which is spoken in the Levant, as the common 

 medium of communication between Europeans and 

 the inhabitants of the East. Its chief ingredient is 

 Italian, and it probably originated during the cru- 

 sades, which brought many different people together. 

 Madden gives a specimen of it in his travels. Io 

 resembles the Creole dialects of the West Indies. 



FRANK ; a German prefix to many geographical 

 names, meaning, sometimes free ; sometimes, belong- 

 ing or relating to the Franks (q. v.), a powerful Ger- 

 man tribe, who conquered France ; hence Frankreich 

 (empire of the Franks), the German name for France. 

 Frankenthal, valley of the Franks; Frankenhauspn, 

 dwelling of the Franks ; Frankenstein, stone or rocx 

 of the Franks. 



