

\NDAK1) DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



were derived from the inspection of bird-, the 

 former being extended to all omens or pro.! 

 whatever. T lx>re a staff or wana as] 



the en-ign of their authority. From 1 



College 'of An. 



of nine. They D increased to fifteen. 



Julius Cspsar added another. Their oli 

 suppressed, 390 A. D. 



Aulic ( niiiicil. >-.e of the two supreme 

 id Germanic, or Holy Roman. 

 m other being the Ini{>erial Chamber. 

 The nomination of the Aulic Councillors be- 

 longed :i|K-ror. and each new emperor 

 made a new appointment. The Council, which 

 was called into in 1/ini by the Em- 

 peror Maximilian, ultimately attained to great 

 authority, and was held to "be equal i" dignity 



Imperial Chamber. At the extinction of 

 the old Germanic Kmpire. by the renunciation 



:ici- II.. and the establishment of the 

 Confederation of the Rhine under the protection 

 of the Kmperor Napoleon, in 1806, the Aulic 

 Coun> . i-t. 



Austria- Hungary. The history of Aus- 



the history of the House of Habsburg. 



Rudolph of Habsburg became Emperor 



nany. and ( Htokar, King of Bohemia and 

 Duke of Austria. Styria. and Carinthia, refused 

 to take the oath of allegiance, the emperor 

 succeeded in dispossessing him of his fiefs (1278), 

 and subsequently conferred them, with the con- 

 sent of the electors of the German Empire, on 

 -on (1282). Thus the dynasty of Habsburg 

 founded. In the first half of the Sixteenth 

 Century, Duke Ferdinand of Austria was elected 

 King of Hungary by one party, while John 

 Zapolya of Transylvania was chosen by another. 

 After several wars, in which John was supported 

 by the Turks. Ferdinand finally came out vic- 

 torious and united Hungary to Austria. Thus 

 possessed of a large territory, fertile and densely 

 people. 1. and regularly elected emperors of Ger- 

 many, the House of Habsburg was, for several 

 centuries, the richest and most powerful family 

 in Kuro|>e. But humiliations came, thick and 

 heavy, with Napoleon. Driven out of Germany, 

 the Lmperor Francis assumed, August 11, 1804, 

 for himself and his successors, the title of Em- 

 peror of Austria. But, besides Germany, he 

 al-o lo-t hi- possessions in Italy, and was com- 

 pletely shut out from the sea. After the fall of 

 Napoleon, Austria was restored to its former 

 size, and under the administration of Metternich 

 it also regained its former prestige in European 

 politic-. Hut it was internally weak, and its 

 weakness became surprisingly apparent, first by 

 the revolution of 1848, when only the support | 

 of Russia prevented the whole fabric from falling 

 to pieces, and then after the battle of Sadowa, 

 1866, when, for the second time, it was driven j 

 out of Germany, and lost its hold on Italy. Since 

 that time the Austrian Government has been 

 principally occupied with the internal recon- 

 struction of the empire, and it is now consti- 

 tuted as a double state Austria and Hungary 

 each with a representation of its own, out of ' 

 which is formed a common representation, in 

 which all common affairs, army and navy, for- 

 eign policy, etc., are treated. In 1878, the 

 administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina was 



given to Austria-Hungary. In 1882, the dual 

 MI entered into the triple alliance with 

 Germany and Italy. An anti-Semitic agitation 

 assumed vast proportions in ls<).~i, and resulted 

 in the C/echs carrying the Bohemian Diet. 

 More internal unrest has recently been displayed 

 in Austria- Hungary than in a'ny other nation 

 of Kurope. Turkey exeepted. In 1!M)7 08, so- 

 eialiM demons! rat ion.v in favor of universal suf- 

 frage were frequent and impressive. i,sY< Unn- 



Battles (The fifteen f/r/.s/iv), according to 

 -or Creasy: (1) Marathon (B. C. 490), in 

 which the Greeks, under Miltifides, defeated 

 Darius, the Persian, and turned the tide of 

 Asiatic invasion. (2) Syracuse (B. C. 413), in 

 which the Athenian power was broken, and the 

 extension of Greek domination was prevented. 

 (3) Arbela (B. C. 331), by which Alexander 

 overthrew Darius, and introduced European 

 habits into Asia. (4) Metaurus (B. C. 207), in 

 which the Romans defeated Hannibal, and Car- 

 thage was brought to ruin. (5) Armin'ius 

 (A. D. 9), in which the Gauls overthrew the 

 Romans under Varus, and established their in- 

 dependence. (6) Chdlons (A. D. 451), in which 

 Attila, "the Scourge of God," was defeated by 

 Aetius, and Europe saved from utter devasta- 

 tion. (7) Tours (A. D. 732), in which Charles 

 Martel overthrew the Saracens, and broke from 

 Europe the Mohammedan yoke. (8) HriNtinyx 

 (A. D. 1066), by which William of Normandy 

 became possessed of the English Crown. (9) 

 Orleans (A. D. 1429), by which Jeanne d'Arc 

 raised the siege of the city, and secured the 

 independence of France. (10) Armada (The), 

 (A. D. 1588), which crushed the hopes of Spain 

 and of the papacy in England. (11) Blenheim 

 (A. D. 1704), in which Marlborough, by the 

 defeat of Tallard, broke the ambitious schemes 

 of Louis XIV. (12) Pultowa (A. D. 1709), in 

 which Charles XII. of Sweden was defeated by 

 Peter the Great of Russia, and the stability of 

 the Muscovite Empire was established. (13) 

 Saratoga (A. D. 1777), in which General Gates 

 defeated Burgoyne, and virtually decided the 

 fate of the American Revolution. (14) Valmy 

 (A. D. 1792), in which the allied armies, 

 under the Duke of Brunswick, were defeated 

 by the French revolutionists, and the Revolu- 

 tion was suffered to go on. (15) Waterloo 

 (A. D. 1815), in which Wellington defeated 

 Napoleon, and rescued Europe from French 

 domination. 



Belgium. The territory now known as 

 Belgium originally formed only a section of that 

 known to Caesar as the territory of the Belga\ 

 extending from the right bank of the Seine to 

 the left Bank of the Rhine, and to the ocean. 

 This district continued under Roman sway till 

 the decline of the empire; subsequently formed 

 part of the Kingdom of Clovis; and then of that 

 of Charlemagne, whose ancestors belonged to 

 Landen and Herstal on the confines of the Ar- 

 dennes. After the breaking up of the empire 

 of Charlemagne, Belgium formed part of the 

 Kingdom of Lotharingia under Charlemagne's 

 grandson, Lothaire; Artois and Flanders, how- 

 ever, belonging to France by the treaty of 

 Verdun. 



