BRUMMELL 



960 



BRUNSWICK 



the province of West Flanders, fifty-five miles 

 northwest of Brussels. It contains a regular 

 network of canals crossed by fifty bridges, 

 all opening in the middle to permit the passage 

 of vessels. Architecturally it is one of the 

 most interesting cities in Europe, for it is full 

 of remarkable buildings dating from the Middle 

 Ages. The Market Hall is a fine old building 

 with a tower 354 feet high and containing 

 forty-eight bells said to be among the finest 

 in Europe. The town hall is a Gothic structure 

 dating from the fourteenth century ; the Palace 

 of Justice is noted for its beautifully-carved 

 chimney piece, and its almost priceless art 

 treasures. The Church of Notre Dame contains 

 tombs of Charles the Bold and Mary of Bur- 

 gundy and a life-sized statue of the Virgin and 

 Child, attributed to Michelangelo. 



From 1240 to 1426 Bruges was one of the 

 most important cities of the Hanseatic League 

 (which see), and its commerce was far more 

 extensive than at the present time. The manu- 

 factures include lace, textiles and tobacco; 

 there are shipbuilding yards and numerous 

 breweries and distilleries. Early in the War 

 of the Nations (1914) Bruges was occupied by 

 the Germans. Population in 1910, 53,285. 



BRUMMELL, brum' el, GEORGE BRYAN (1778- 

 1840), generally known as BEAU BRUMMELL, an 

 English man of fashion who for twenty-one 

 years set the London taste in dress and manners, 

 and yet died miserably in an asylum for the 

 poor. At the age of sixteen he gained the 

 friendship of the Prince of Wales, afterward 

 George IV, who made him a cornetist in his 

 own regiment of the Tenth Hussars, and 

 showed him flattering attention during the 

 period when Brummell, prosperous and ad- 

 mired, lived handsomely on his father's for- 

 tune. Brummell was not a fop; he was fastid- 

 ious about his appearance, but dressed, as Lord 

 Byron said, "with exquisite propriety." A long 

 course of extravagant living, however, brought 

 him heavily into debt, and in 1816 he fled to 

 Calais, in Northern 'France, to escape his cred- 

 itors. Thereafter he was dependent on the 

 generosity of his friends, growing poorer from 

 year to year and dying wretchedly in Caen, 

 France, where for a brief period he had held 

 the position of consul. 



BRUNELLESCHI , broo nel les ' ke, FILIPPO 

 (1377-1446), the real founder of the architec- 

 ture of the Renaissance (which see). He was 

 born in Florence, but went to Rome with Dona- 

 tello to study his chosen art. While there he 

 evolved the idea of bringing architecture back 



from the Gothic style to the principles of 

 Greece and Rome. In .this he was successful, 

 as his work opened the way for Bramante and 

 others, but he himself never freed himself en- 

 tirely from the traditions of medieval art. In 

 1417 he removed to Florence, where he lived 

 the rest of his life. His greatest work was the 

 dome of the Cathedral of Saint Mary, which 

 he erected despite warnings from other archi- 

 tects as to its impossibility. It has remained 

 unsurpassed, for the dome of Saint Peter's, 

 though greater in height, is inferior to it in 

 massiveness of effect. Among other important 

 works by him were the Pitti Palace at Florence 

 and the Pazzi Chapel at Santa Croce. 

 BRUNHILDE, broonhil' de. SeeNiBELUNG- 



ENLIED. 



BRiJNN, the capital of the Austrian prov- 

 ince of Moravia. It is a beautiful city, situated 

 at the junction of the rivers Schwarzawa and 

 Zwittawa, eighty-nine miles north of Vienna. 

 The name is derived from the Hungarian word 

 bruno, meaning mud or clay, conferred on ac- 

 count of the nature of the soil on which it 

 stands. The city is noted for its manufacture 

 of wqolen goods, which have earned for it the 

 name of the "Austrian Leeds," the English city 

 of Leeds being the world's greatest wool-manu- 

 facturing center. There are also manufactures 

 of leather, cotton, silk, chemicals, hardware and 

 machinery. Its extensive conimerce is chiefly 

 promoted by fairs which attract merchants 

 from all parts of Europe. Until 1860 the town 

 was surrounded by fortifications, but the ram- 

 parts were then converted into beautiful prom- 

 enades. Population in 1910, 125,737. 



BRUNSWICK, brunz'wik, an irregularly- 

 built medieval city, capital of the duchy of the 

 same name, situated in a very fertile region on 

 the Oker River, in Germany. It is thirty-five 

 miles southeast of Hanover by rail. The name 

 is derived from old Latin words meaning the 

 village of Bruno, Bruno being the ruler of the 

 land in the latter part of the ninth century. 

 Its ancient ramparts have been converted into 

 promenades and parks, but the great age of 

 the city is clearly shown in many of its fine 

 old buildings. The cathedral, palace, town 

 hall and the ancient council house are remark- 

 able examples of Romanesque and Gothic 

 architecture. It is now an important industrial 

 center, with manufactures of woolen and linen 

 goods, jute, machinery and chemical products. 

 The city is governed by a municipal council, 

 consisting of thirty-six members, with an ex- 

 ecutive board of eight members. All public 



