HAPGOOD 



2687 



HARDECANUTE 



met to discuss their affairs. During the fif- 

 teenth century the power of the league was at 

 its height, but as its power and ambition in- 

 creased people dreaded its domineering au- 

 thority. However, it was of great benefit to 

 Northern Europe by establishing new centers 

 of trade, constructing canals and introducing 

 a uniform system of weights and measures, 

 to facilitate commerce. After the discovery of 

 America the trade of Europe was entirely re- 

 adjusted, so the Hansa declined rapidly and 

 many of its members withdrew. Only Ham- 

 burg, Liibeck and Bremen remained faithful 

 to the old compact, and under the new Ger- 

 man empire they still retain their self-gov- 

 ernment, being known as Hansestadte. See 

 CITY STATES. 



HAP 'GOOD, NORMAN (1868- ), an Amer- 

 ican editor and author who in his writings 

 has left untouched few -topics of public inter- 

 est. Nor is his range of subjects more note- 

 worthy than the force and directness with 

 which he ha? presented them. No one, read- 

 ing his editorials, could remain in doubt as to 

 his convictions. He was born in Chicago, but 

 went East for his education, graduating from 

 Harvard University and Harvard Law School. 

 His first work was done as a dramatic critic 

 on the staff of the Commercial Advertiser of 

 New York, and afterward he was one of the 

 editors of the Bookman; his writings in the 

 latter publication attracted so much attention 

 that in 1903 he was made editor of Collier's 

 Weekly. This post he held for ten years, re- 

 linquishing it in 1913 to become editor of 

 Harper's Weekly, with which paper he re- 

 mained until 1916, when it was combined with 

 The Independent. In 1919 he was appointed 

 minister to Denmark. 



HAPSBURG, hahps'boorK, or HABSBURG, 

 HOUSE OF, an imperial family, famous in Euro- 

 pean history, a descendant of which wears to- 

 day the crown of Austria-Hungary. The name, 

 a contraction of Habichtsburg, meaning hawk's 

 castle, is taken from a castle which was built 

 in the eleventh century by Werner, Bishop of 

 Strassburg, on the bank of the Aar River, in 

 the Swiss canton of Aargau. His nephew, 

 Werner I, was the first Count of Hapsburg, 

 but the real founder of the imperial house was 

 Albert III, who lived during the latter half 

 of the twelfth century. 



From 1438 until 1806, when the title became 

 extinct, all but two of the sovereigns who 

 wore the crown of the Holy Roman Emperor 

 were Hapsburgs (see HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE). 



Emperor Charles V (1500-1558) founded a 

 Spanish line of the Hapsburg family, which 

 became extinct in 1700. The male line of the 

 Austrian Hapsburgs died out in 1740, but Maria 

 Theresa (which see), daughter of Charles VI, 

 succeeded to the throne, and her descendants 

 have continued to rule in Austria. 



HARA-KIRI, hah' rah ke're, a Japanese 

 method of suicide, formerly permitted among 

 criminals of the Samurai, or military class, as 

 being less disgraceful than public execution. 

 It consisted of disembowelment by means of 

 gashes made in the abdomen in the form of 

 a cross. This manner of death was also em- 

 ployed by those who wished to avoid the con- 

 sequences of criminal or dishonorable acts. 

 Since 1868, when the Japanese feudal system 

 was abolished, hara-kiri has fallen almost en- 

 tirely into disuse, but it is occasionally prac- 

 ticed. The last prominent people to commit 

 hara-kiri were Baron Nogi and his wife, in 

 1912, because they did not wish to live after 

 their beloved emperor, Mutsuhito, died. 



HAR' COURT, SIR WILLIAM GEORGE GRAN- 

 VI'LLE VENABLES VERNON (1827-1904), an Eng- 

 lish statesman and one of the most devoted 

 followers of W. E. Gladstone during the lat- 

 ter's notable career. He was graduated with 

 honors from Cambridge, was called to the bar 

 in 1854, and was appointed professor of inter- 

 national law at Cambridge in 1869. He first 

 attracted attention by a series of letters to 

 The Times of London, in which he strongly 

 opposed the recognition of the Southern states 

 of America as belligerents in the War of Seces- 

 sion. Entering Parliament in 1868, he soon 

 achieved a reputation as a ready debater, with 

 great power of satire. He became Home Sec- 

 retary in 1880, and in 1886 was made Chan- 

 cellor of the Exchequer. He was a bitter op- 

 ponent of the British policy that led to the 

 South African War (1899-1902), and his too- 

 candid criticisms caused him to lose much of 

 his popularity. The party he had led for many 

 years adopted Lord Rosebery as chief, and 

 Harcourt remained in Parliament merely as 

 a private member. He was typical of the ad- 

 vanced liberal politician of his time, a true 

 aristocrat, yet a master of the art of conduct- 

 ing a popular campaign. 



HARDECANUTE, hahr de ka nute' , or 

 HARTHACNUT (about 1019-1042), one of 

 three successive Danish kings who ruled Eng- 

 land and Denmark. He was the son of Canute 

 the Great, whose courtiers wishing to flatter 

 him asked that he "command the waves of 



