VALERIUS MAXIMUS VALLISNERIA. 



775 



consul three times successively in a period of tran- 

 quillity, and also distinguished himself as a general 

 by his courage and conduct. Amongst, others, he 

 subdued and triumphed over the Sabines. Soon 

 after, he died so poor that his remains were interred 

 at the public expense. A monument was erected 

 to his memory in the forum. The Roman women 

 wore mourning for him a year, as they had done for 

 Brutus. 



VALERIUS MAXIMUS ; a Roman historian, 

 who lived in the reign of the emperor Tiberius. He 

 served in Asia under Sextus Pompeius, and, re- 

 turning to Rome, appears to have taken no part in 

 public affairs, but devoted his leisure to the com- 

 position of his Dicta et Facta Memorabilia, a col- 

 lection of anecdotes and observations. On the re- 

 vival of literature, it was one of the earliest books 

 which issued from the press after the invention of 

 printing. Among the best modern editions are those 

 of Torrenius (Leyden, 1726, 4to.), of Kapp 

 (Leipsic, 1782, 8vo.), and of Helfrecht (Hoff, 1799, 

 8vo.). 



VALERIUS FLACCUS, CAIUS. See Flaccus, 

 Caius Valerius. 



VALETTA. See Malta. 



VALHALLA. See Northern Mythology. 



VALIDE; SCJLTANA VALIDE. See Harem. 



VALKYRIAS. See Northern Mythology. 



VALLA, LAURENCE, a celebrated philologist, 

 was born at Rome in 1406 or 1415. At Pavia he 

 was made professor of rhetoric; but, the plague 

 having dispersed the members of tl: university, he 

 lectured at Milan, Genoa and Florence. At length 

 he became known to Alphonso, king of Arragon, 

 whom he followed in his wars and travels from 

 1435 till 1442, when that prince made himself mas- 

 ter of the kingdom of Naples. In 1443, on the 

 return of pope Eugenius to Rome, he settled in that 

 city. A work on the pretended donation of Con- 

 stantine to the holy see, reflecting on the characters 

 of some of the popes, having excited the displeasure 

 of Eugenius, Valla returned to Naples, and opened 

 a school of eloquence, to which many scholars re- 

 sorted. He narrowly escaped suffering in conse- 

 quence of the freedom with which he attacked no- 

 tions sanctioned by antiquity ; and it was to the 

 influence of Alphonso that he owed his preservation 

 from the vengeance of the inquisition. At length 

 he was invited to Rome by Nicholas V. and there 

 commenced giving lectures on rhetoric in 1450. 

 He engaged in a literary dispute with George Tra- 

 pezuntius, on the comparative merits of Cicero and 

 Quintilian, and carried on a controversy with Pog- 

 gio, which was conducted with much illiberality 

 and virulence by both parties. He died in 1457 or 

 1465. Among the revivers of literature, Valla has 

 always held a high rank, which he merited by un- 

 wearied application and an enlarged course of study, 

 including history, criticism, dialectics, moral philo- 

 sophy and divinity. Of his numerous writings, his 

 treatise De Elegantia Latini Sermonis still maintains 

 its reputation. His original works were published 

 together at Basle in 1543. 



VALLADOLID, OR MECHOACAN; a city of 

 Mexico, and capital of a state of the same name 

 (see Mechoacari); one hundred and eight miles 

 west of Mexico ; Ion. 102 11' W. ; lat. 20 5' N.; 

 population, 18,000. It is situated on a river near 

 the west side of a lake, which abounds with fish. 

 It is the see of a bishop, and contains a cathedral, 

 a college, an hospital, and several convents. The 

 elevation of the town above the sea is 6396 feet. 



VALLADOLID, STATE or. See Mechoacan. 



VALLADOLID, a city of Spain, in Leon, capi- 

 tal of a province of the same name, on the Pisuerga, 

 at the junction of the Esgueva, which flows through 

 the town ; 84 miles north-west of Madrid ; Ion. 4 

 57' W.; lat. 41 42^ N. It is situated in the midst 

 of an extensive plain, and contains a cathedral, six- 

 teen parish churches, forty-six convents, three 

 hospitals, and a university, with 1250 students ; 

 population, 30,000. The manufactures consist of 

 silks, coarse woolens, and earthen ware. It is a 

 bishop's see, and was formerly more important than 

 at present. The streets are dirty, many of the 

 houses in decay, and half-finished edifices are the 

 chief indications of its ancient splendour. Philip 

 II. was a native of Valladolid, and made it the oc- 

 casional residence of his court. 



VALLE, PIETRO DELLA, a celebrated traveller 

 of the seventeenth century, born at Rome, in 1586, 

 of a noble family, has left us accounts of his travels, 

 which, though not free from credulity, and a love 

 of the marvellous, are highly interesting. Valle 

 received a good education, and had already become 

 distinguished for his acquisitions, when an unhappy 

 passion, and some other difficulties, induced him to 

 quit Rome and go to Naples. Here he came to the 

 resolution of making a pilgrimage to Palestine, and, 

 going to Venice, embarked there for the East in 

 1614. He visited Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, Persia 

 and India, passing upwards of eleven years in these 

 countries, and studying the languages and manners 

 of the inhabitants. At Bagdad he married a 

 beautiful Georgian, Sitti Maani, of whom, however, 

 he was soon deprived by death. This calamity 

 hastened his return ; and, in 1626, he arrived in 

 Rome, with a numerous retinue of Eastern fol- 

 lowers, and soon after married a servant of his first 

 wife, also a Georgian. Here he lived, devoted to 

 the arts and to scientific pursuits, and wrote an ac- 

 count of his travels. This work, consisting of 

 fifty-four letters, shows the various acquirements 

 of the author to advantage. He died at Rome in 

 1652. 



VALLIERE, LOUISA FRANCES DE LA BAUMK 

 LE BLANC, duchess de la, mistress of Louis XIV. 

 descended from the ancient noble family De la 

 Baume, was lady of honour to the wife of the duke 

 of Orleans. For two years, she cherished a secret 

 passion for Louis, who finally noticed her. In the 

 height of her power, which she used only to do 

 good, her conduct never belied her gentle disposi- 

 tion. The king raised the estate of Vaujour and 

 the barony of St Christophe to a duchy and a 

 peerage in favour of her and her children. Super- 

 seded in the affections of Louis by Mad. de Mon- 

 tespan, Mile, de Vallie"re retired into the Carmelite 

 convent in the suburb St Jacques, where she as- 

 sumed the name of sister Louisa de la Misericorde, 

 and died in 1710. She is considered the author of 

 Reflexions sur la Misericorde de Dieu. Mad. de 

 Genlis has written a historical romance founded on 

 the events of her life, and Lebrun executed a 

 penitent Magdalen, of which the face is from her 

 portrait. 



VALLISNERIA; a very extraordinary plant, a 

 submersed aquatic of the natural order hydrochari- 

 deee. It is found in Italy and France, and grows in 

 large quantities in the still waters of most of the 

 principal rivers from the Delaware to the Missis- 

 sippi, near their banks' Ft presents partly sub- 

 merged fields of narrow, linear three-nerved, grass- 

 like, olive-green leaves, of a thin and semitransparent 



