VILLAGE VILLARS. 



819 



Estense, and Ludovisi villas, in the neighbourhood 

 of Rome. In the times of the Carlovingians, the 

 imperial country residences (see Charlemagne} were 

 called villa; regies ; and as many houses grew up 

 around them, the word ville may have therefore 

 come to signify, with the French, a town. 



VILLAGE (see Villa}, OR VILL in England, 

 is taken sometimes for a manor, and sometimes for 

 a parish, or part of it. In countries where there 

 are peasants, with privileges and obligations distinct 

 from those of the inhabitants of cities and towns, 

 village has a legal meaning, denoting a place inha- 

 bited by peasants. 



VILLANI. There are three Italian historians 

 of this name : 



Giovanni, a native of Florence, who, having been 

 present at the celebration of the jubilee in Rome 

 in 1300, was induced, by reflecting on the excellent 

 writers who had adorned the history of that city, 

 to contribute in the same manner to the honour of 

 his native place. He accordingly wrote the history 

 of the city of Florence, in twelve books, from its 

 foundation to 1348, when he died of the plague. 

 His narrative extends not only to the events oc- 

 curring in the other provinces of Italy, but also to 

 other countries through which he had travelled, 

 and with the history of which he had become ac- 

 quainted. This work is extremely valuable, al- 

 though it abounds in errors : it deserves full credit 

 wherever the author, whose veracity and honesty 

 are every where visible, speaks as an eye-witness. 

 It is simple and inartificial, but not without inte- 

 rest, on account of its naivete and vigour. 



After his death, his brother Mutteo continued the 

 work in a thirteenth book, to 1363, when he also 

 died of the plague. This book treats of contem- 

 poraneous events, and is characterized by the same 

 love of truth which is found in the work of Gio- 

 vanni. In style and manner, Matteo is inferior to 

 his brother, but he has the charm of simplicity and 

 a certain grace of antiquity. 



Filippo, the son of Matteo, a Florentine citizen, 

 lawyer and judge, was for many years president of 

 Perugia, but finally retired from public life, for the 

 purpose of devoting himself to letters, and wrote, 

 in Latin, a work entitled De Origins Civitatis 

 Florentine et ejusdem Civibus. The first part is 

 full of fables, and has never been printed. Maz- 

 zuchelli had the second part printed in 1747, in an 

 old Italian version, which is superior to the original 

 in elegance and purity of expression, but is inferior 

 in point of accuracy. This work is the first speci- 

 men of a native literary history, since most of the 

 persons whose lives are described by Villani are 

 men of letters. His style is lively and vigorous, 

 but sometimes too concise : he often sketches an 

 admirable portrait with a few strokes. 



VILL ARET, CLAUDE, a French historian, born 

 at Paris about 1715, was intended for the legal 

 profession, but preferred the study of the belles- 

 lettres, and published, in 1743, a novel called His- 

 toire du Cceur Humain, and, in 1745, another, La 

 Belle Alletnande. The detangement of his affairs 

 obliging him to leave Paris, he went, in 1748, to 

 Rouen, where he appeared on the stage, and con- 

 tinued that mode of life till 1756. He then return- 

 ed to Paris, and. having obtained a financial situa- 

 tion, relinquished his lighter studies, and applied 

 himself to the investigation of the history of his 

 native country. On the death of the abbe Velly 

 in 1759, he was selected to continue the history of 

 France, commenced by that writer, and was, at the ] 



same time, made secretary to the peerage. His 

 portion of the work extends from 1329 to 1469, or 

 from the reign of Philip de Valois to that of Louis 

 XL He also assisted in the Cours d'Histoire Uni- 

 verselle, undertaken by Luneau de Boisgermain. 

 His death took place in February, 1766. 



VILLARS, Louis HECTOR, first marquis, and af- 

 terwards duke of, peer and marshal of France, de- 

 scended from a respectable, but reduced family, 

 was born at Lyons, in 1653. At an early age, he 

 served in the Low Countries, and distinguished 

 himself at the siege of Maestricht (1673), where, 

 as a subaltern officer of cavalry, he made a daring 

 attack, with a detachment of grenadiers, upon an 

 intrenchment, for which he was censured by Louis 

 XIV., under whose eyes it happened, but in such 

 a manner as to redound to his honour. In 1690, 

 he was created marechal de camp ; and, in 1700, 

 Louis XIV. sent him as ambassador to the imperial 

 court of Vienna, to conduct the negotiations on the 

 subject of the Spanish succession. Villars was, 

 however, recalled in 1701, and, on the breaking out 

 of the war for the Spanish succession, was attached 

 to the army of Italy, where he added to his repu- 

 tation. The chief command of an army in Ger- 

 many was next intrusted to him, and, on the 14th 

 of October, 1702, he defeated prince Louis of 

 Baden, who commanded the Austrian forces, and 

 wished to prevent his junction with the elector of 

 Bavaria, at Friedlingen. For this achievement he 

 received the marshal's baton, although, on account 

 of the numerical superiority of the enemy, he did not 

 succeed in effecting his object. In 1703, after a 

 bold and sudden march, he captured Kehl (March 

 12), which was highly important to the French, on 

 account of its position, and attacked the lines of 

 the prince of Baden, at Stolhofen, though without 

 success, but finally accomplished (May 12) the long- 

 contemplated junction with the elector of Bavaria. 

 An attack was then made by the united forces on 

 the Austrian general count Styrum, near Hochsttidt 

 (September 20), and the allies were victorious. 

 Villars was now recalled, at the request of the elec- 

 tor of Bavaria, and employed in reducing to sub- 

 mission the reformers of the Cevennes, known un- 

 der the name of the Camisards (q. v.), in the exe- 

 cution of which charge he endeavoured to restore 

 tranquillity by moderate measures, not less than by 

 force of arms. The French arms having suffered 

 many reverses in Germany, the chief command was 

 again given to marshal Villars, who, by his activity, 

 baffled the plans of the prince of Baden, to whom 

 he was inferior in numbers, and compelled him to 

 retreat across the Rhine. In 1707, he forced the 

 lines of Stolhofen (May 23), which were occupied 

 by the German forces, and extorted large sums of 

 money from the inhabitants of Suabia. The fin- 

 ances of France were reduced so low by the expen- 

 ses of the war, and other causes, that it became 

 impossible to keep on foot an army equal to the 

 allied forces ; and marshal Villars was therefore 

 prevented from attempting any great enterprise. 

 In 1709, after some ineffectual attempts towards 

 negotiation, the allies formed the design of laying 

 siege to Mons ; and the celebrated battle of Mal- 

 plaquet was the result of the operations on this 

 occasion (Sept. 11). Villars himself was wounded 

 in the knee in this affair. In 1712, he defeated the 

 Austrians at Denain, forced Eugene to raise the 

 siege of Landrecy, and took several fortresses. In 

 1713, he penetrated into Germany, and took Lan. 

 dau (Aug. 20), and Freyburg, in the Breisgau 



