4 tO 



HASLE MASS. 



several princes and nations, on account of its opon 

 rupture with the pope ; yet, in the 33d session (May 

 16, 143!)), after violent debutes, in which tlie arch- 

 bishop of Palermo, Nic. Tudeschi (known, under the 

 name of Fanormitanits, as tlie greatest canon of his 

 time), who was the delegate of the king of Arragon 

 and Sicily, took the part of the pope, it declared Eu- 

 genius, on account of his nUiinatc disobedience of 

 iis decrees, a hen-tic, ;md formally dej>osed him, in 

 the following session, as guilty of simony, perjury, 

 violation of the laws of the church, and bad admiinV 

 I ration in his office. At this session (the 34th, June 

 25, 1439), only two of the Spanish and Italian mem- 

 l)!-ix were present ; but the president adopted a spi- 

 r.ietl anil effect luil method for obtaining the decree, 

 lie ordered tlie holy relics, which existed in Basle, 

 1.1 be placed in the seats of the absent bishops, and 

 produced such a strong excitement in the council, 

 which siill consisted of 400, for the most part French 

 and German prelates, priests, and doctors, that it 

 unanimously consented to tlie deposition of Eugenius. 

 NotwithManding the plague, then raging in Basle, 

 which continually diminished its number, it proceed- 

 ed, in a regular conclave (November 17, of the same 

 year), to elect the duke Amadeus of Savoy to tlie 

 papal chair. This prince Uien lived in retirement at 

 Kipaglia, on the hike of Geneva, and seemed parti- 

 cularly qualified for the office, on account of his piety, 

 his riches, and his connexions. Felix V. this was 

 the name he adopted was acknowledged by only a 

 few princes, cities, and universities. The chief 

 powers, France and Germany, assented to the de- 

 crees of the council for the reformation of the church, 

 but they chose to remain neutral in the contest with 

 Eugenius. Meanwhile he acquired new credit by 

 the union concluded with the Greek deputies at Flo- 

 rence (but afterwards rejected by the Greek church) 

 and the friendship of the emperor Frederic III. The 

 council, on the other hand, denounced by Eugenius, 

 and deserted by its protectors, gradually declined 

 under its feeble pope, and, consulting only appear- 

 ances and the personal safety of its members, held 

 its 45th and last session, May 16, 1443, after an in- 

 action of three years, interrupted only by a few in- 

 significant decrees. At this session, the place of 

 meeting was changed to Lausanne. Here some 

 prelates remained together under the cardinal Louis 

 Allemand, until 1449, when, after the death of Eu- 

 genius and the resignation of Felix V., they gladly 

 accepted the amnesty offered by the new pope, Nicho- 

 las V., and pronounced the council closed. The 

 decrees of the council of Basle are admitted into 

 none of the Roman collections, and are considered of 

 no authority by the Roman lawyers. They are re- 

 garded, however, as of authority in points of canon 

 law, in France and Germany, as their regulations for 

 the reformation of the church have been adopted in 

 the pragmatic sanctions of both countries, and, as far 

 as they regard clerical discipline, have been actually 

 enforced. Some later concordats have modified the 

 application of them, but never formally, and entirely 

 annulled them. (See Germany, and Gallican Church.) 

 No general council has ever issued more just and 

 suitable decrees for the reformation of the papal 

 government, and of clerical discipline; none has 

 done more to restore the authority of the bishops, 

 which the imperious pretensions of the popes had 

 almost annihilated, and, consequently, the ancient 

 apostolical constitution of the church ; but the cano- 

 nists, who almost entirely conducted it, could not 

 disengage themselves from the idea of the univer- 

 sality of the episcopal character of the pope; and, 

 proceeding on these premises, their strongest mea- 

 sures for restricting his power were incomplete, and 

 all their attempts at reformation consequently useless. 



If this council had accomplished its chief object 

 the conversion of the jipal monarchy into :v hier.ir- 

 diical aristocracy many sources of complaint against 

 the papal despotism would, indeed, h:i\e been re- 

 moved, but the reformation of Luther, in tlie lu'tli 

 century, would not have been prevented. 



BASQUES, BASKS, VASCONKS (vase, from vassoc, that 

 is, man), BISCAY ANS ; the name of the ('antabri ^ Gas- 

 cons), a people in Spain, near the Pyrenees. They 

 are probably descendants of the ancient Iberi, who 

 occupied Spain before the Celts. (See \V. von lliiui- 

 I iol( It's l-'ti/inol. Idstor. gevgr. Inquiries rcsjirrfinx tin' 

 first Inhabitants of Spain.) They settled, at the end 

 of the sixth century, on tlie north side of the Pyre- 

 nees, between those mountains and tire Garonne. 

 After long struggles, they submitted to the kings of 

 the Franks. Under the Carlovingian race, they el< ct< i! 

 their own dukes ; but, after tlie extinction of thai fa- 

 mily, they fell under the dominion of Aquitania, in the- 

 llth century, and with it under tiiat of France, in 1453. 

 They preserve their ancient language, and former 

 manners, their national dances, &c. They are very 

 good seamen, and were the first Europeans who en- 

 gaged in the whale-fishery, which they have, how- 

 ever, long since relinquished. They occupy, in 

 Spain, the provinces of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Ala- 

 va, (3000 square miles, 188,000 inhabitants); in 

 France, the departments of the Upper and Lower 

 Pyrenees, Arriege, and Upper Garonne (about 70,000 

 inhabitants). See the Alphabet of the Primitive Lan- 

 guage of Spain, &c., extracted from De Erro, by 

 George W. Erving, Boston, 1829. 



BASS (from the Italian basso, deep, low); the low- 

 est part in the harmony of a musical composition. It 

 is the most important of all the parts, the foundation 

 of the harmony, and the support of the whole com- 

 position. Figured bass is a bass which, while a cer- 

 tain chord or harmony is continued by the parts 

 above, moves in notes of the same harmony. For 

 example, if the upper parts consist of C, E, G (the 

 common chord or harmony of C), and, while they arc 

 continued, the bass moves from C, the fundamental 

 note of that harmony, to E, another note of the same 

 harmony, that bass is called a figured bass. Funda- 

 mental bass is that bass which forms the tone or na- 

 tural foundation of the harmony, and from which 

 that harmony is derived. To explain this by an 

 example : if the harmony consist of the common 

 chord of C, C will be its fundamental bass, because 

 from that note the harmony is deduced ; and if, while 

 that harmony is continued, the bass be changed to 

 any other note, it ceases to be fundamental, because 

 it is no longer the note from which that harmony 

 results, and is calculated. Ground bass is a bas-; 

 which starts with some subject of its own, and con- 

 tinues to be repeated throughout the movement, 

 while the upper part or parts pursue a separate air, 

 and supply the harmony This kind of bass was 

 greatly in fashion half a century ago, but has long 

 since been rejected as an unnatural restraint upon the 

 imagination, and productive of a monotonous melody. 

 Thorough lass. (See Thorough bass.) Bass cliff" 

 is the character put at the beginning of the stave, in 

 which the bass, or lower notes of the composition, are 

 placed, and serving to determine the pitch and names 

 of those notes. Uasso concertante (Ital.) is the bass of 

 the little chorus; the bass which accompanies the softer 

 parts of a composition, as well as those which employ 

 the whole power of the band. This part is generally 

 taken by the violoncellos. Bass-counter, or contra~ 

 bass ; the under bass ; that part which, when there 

 are two basses in a composition, is performed by the 

 double basses, the violoncellos taking the upper 

 bass or basee concertante. Basso recitantc (Ital.), the 

 bass of the little chorus. (See Basso concertante. ,)- 



