WITT WOAD. 



85 



manufacture of Witney is in blankets, for the ex- 

 cellent quality of which it has long been distin- 

 guished. The manufactures of this town and the 

 district for twenty miles round, were incorporated 

 in the reign of Queen Anne. At that period they 

 kept 150 looms at work, employed about 3000 

 persons, and used a thousand packs of wool weekly. 

 The charter, however, no longer exists. Other 

 woollen goods are made here, besides gloves, paper, 

 malt, &c. Population in 1841, 5707. 



WITT, DE. See De Witt. 



WITTEKIND, orWITIKIND; a celebrated 

 prince of the Saxons, and their principal champion 

 in the war against Charlemagne. The Saxons, a 

 numerous and brave people, inhabited the northern 

 part of Germany, between the Rhine, the Elbe, and 

 the North sea, or the present Westphalia and Lower 

 Saxony, under the names of Eastphalians, West- 

 phalians, and Engrians. (See Saxons.) Charle- 

 magne, desirous of putting a stop to their frequent 

 incursions into his territories, and moved also part- 

 ly by religious motives, determined to subdue these 

 wild heathens. The war began in 772, and con- 

 tinued for about thirty years, till 803, with some 

 intermissions. The Saxons, inferior to the Franks 

 in military discipline and skill, were repeatedly de- 

 feated, and several times yielded to the commands 

 of their victorious enemy, but again took arms as 

 soon as his attention was drawn to other parts of 

 his extensive empire. After gaining several deci- 

 sive victories (783), Charlemagne had recourse to 

 conciliatory measures, and prevailed upon Albion 

 and Wittekind, the two leaders of the Saxons, to 

 submit, on advantageous conditions, and embrace 

 Christianity (785.) Wittekind, who had been 

 obliged to flee to Denmark, obtained the restoration 

 of his territories, and, according to some writers, 

 was created duke of Saxony. (See Germany, His- 

 tory of.) Wittekind is supposed to have fallen in 

 battle against Geroald, duke of Suabia, in 807. 

 The present Saxon princes claim a descent from 

 Wittekind, but without much ground. 



WITTENBERG, a town of historical interest 

 as connected with the reformation, is situated on 

 the Elbe, in the Prussian province of Saxony. 

 Here is a bridge, 500 ells long, over the Elbe. In- 

 eluding the military, the town contains 6345 inha- 

 bitants. Since 1817, two new suburbs have grown 

 up. The church in which Luther fixed up his 

 ninety-five celebrated theses, Oct. 31, 1517, and, 

 in which he, Melancthon, and the electors Frederic 

 the Wise, and John, lie buried, has been repaired 

 by the Prussian government. The university, 

 founded in 150'2, by the elector Frederic the Wise, 

 has been united, by the Prussian government, with 

 that of Halle, and a theological seminary has been 

 established instead of it. Charles V. took Witten- 

 berg in 1547, after the battle of Miililberg ; but the 

 property of the people, their religious worship, and 

 the tombs of the reformers, were left untouched. 

 The emperor was requested to disinter the body of 

 Luther ; but he answered, " I wage no war with 

 the dead." The city was bombarded in the seven 

 years' war, and dismantled. As the ditch and wall 

 remained, Napoleon ordered marshal Victor to re- 

 store the fortifications, and garrisoned the place 

 with Poles. The Prussians took it by assault at 

 midnight, Jan. 12, 1814. The Prussian general, 

 count Tauenzein, received the name Tauenzein von 

 Wittenberg in consequence of this victory. The 

 king of Prussia laid the corner-stone of a monu- 

 ment, in honour of Luther, in Wittenberg, on the 



third centennial celebration of the reformation. In- 

 1822, the statue of the reformer, made of cast iron, 

 by Schado\v, was erected. 



WLADIMIR (Wlodimir), czar of Russia, be- 

 came, in 981, after the death of his two brothers, 

 master of the Russian dominions, which he increas- 

 ed by the conquest of several neighbouring tribes. 

 Upon his marriage with the Greek imperial princess 

 Anna Romanowna, in 988, he was baptized, and 

 together with his whole nation, adopted Chris- 

 tianity. The first Christian teachers of Russia 

 came from Constantinople, and introduced the 

 Greek Catholic worship, which still prevails in 

 Russia. Wladimir, as the first Christian ruler, and 

 the founder of many convents and schools, is called 

 in Russian history, a saint ; and, as he laid the foun- 

 dation of the subsequent greatness of the empire, 

 he is also called the Great. He died in 1015. His 

 descendants divided the empire among themselves 

 to their own ruin. In 1782, Catharine II. founded 

 the order of St Wladimir in honour of him. 



WO AD (isatis tinctoria) ; a cruciferous plant, 

 occasionally cultivated for its leaves, which afford 

 a dye, in use as a substitute for indigo. The seeds 

 are sown on well-prepared land, and fresh-broken, 

 old pasture ground is preferred. As the great ob- 

 ject is to produce large leaves, the mode of culture 

 given, by the best gardeners, to spinage should be 

 imitated that of sowing on a very rich, well-pul- 

 verized soil, thinning the plants so that they may 

 not touch each other, keeping them perfectly clear 

 of weeds, and frequently stirring the soil between 

 them. The seeds are sown in July ; and the plants, 

 when they come up, are weeded and thinned. Next 

 July, or earlier, the first crop of leaves may be 

 gathered ; and two or three others will be obtained 

 during the season. At the end of the second year, 

 the plants may be ploughed down, as the third 

 year they will run to seed, and produce but small 

 leaves. The leaves are pressed, and the juice 

 treated as in making indigo ; but such is the cheap- 

 ness of the latter article, that the cultivation of 

 woad is not much attended to at the present time. 

 The plant grows wild in the south of Europe. The 

 radical leaves are crenate, those of the stem oblong 

 and arrow-shaped ; the flowers are small and yellow, 

 and the pods elliptical, flat, and contain a single 

 seed. 



Woad is prepared for use as follows : The plant 

 puts forth, at first, five or six upright leaves, about 

 a foot long and six inches broad. When these 

 hang downwards and turn yellow, they are fit for 

 gathering. Several crops are gathered in one year. 

 The leaves are carried directly to a mill, much like 

 the oil or tan mills, and ground into a smooth paste. 

 The paste is laid in heaps, pressed close and smooth, 

 and the blackish crust which forms on the outside 

 re-united if it happen to crack ; if this precaution 

 were omitted, little worms would be produced in 

 the cracks, and the woad would lose part of its 

 strength. After lying for fifteen days, the heaps 

 are opened, the crust rubbed, and mixed with the 

 inside, and the matter formed into oval balls, which 

 are pressed close and solid in wooden moulds. 

 These are dried upon hurdles. In the sun they 

 turn black on the outside, in a close place yellow- 

 ish, especially if the weather be rainy. The dealers 

 in this commodity prefer the first, though it is said 

 the workmen find no considerable difference be- 

 tween the two. The good balls are distinguished 

 by their being heavy, of an agreeable smell, and, 

 when rubbed, of a violet colour within. For the 



