MIDDLE AGES 



3793 



MIDDLETOWN 



MIDDLE AGES, a name given to the period 

 between ancient and modern civilization. 

 Many different dates are given for both the 

 beginning and the end of this period. Some 

 authorities assert that the Middle Ages began 

 with the fall of Rome in A.D. 476; others that 

 it began with the crowning of Charlemagne in 

 800, with the death of Charlemagne in 814, or 

 with the fall of the Prankish Empire in 843. 

 Most authorities agree on the fall of Rome 

 in 476, and divide the time into the Dark Ages, 

 when learning and civilization were temporarily 

 obscured, and there was scarcely any progress, 

 and the Renaissance, or rebirth, of knowledge, 

 of arts and of industry. 



There is almost as great divergence of opin- 

 ion as to the close of the Middle Ages as there 

 is as to the beginning. The end of the Refor- 

 mation in Germany, the fall of Constantinople 

 (1453), the discovery of America (1492), and 

 the end of the Thirty Years' War by the Treaty 

 of Westphalia (1648) are all advanced as the 

 final boundaries, but the event most generally 

 accepted as the date of transition is the dis- 

 covery of America in 1492. See DARK AGES; 

 RENAISSANCE. 



MIDDLESBROUGH, mid'd'lzbruh, an Eng- 

 lish seaport near the mouth of the River Tees, 

 in Yorkshire. It was founded in 1830 and grew 

 slowly until 1852, when iron ore was found in 

 the Eston Hills; thereafter the population in- 

 creased at a remarkable rate. The town is 

 well built, and has many public buildings of 

 real architectural beauty, including a town hall 

 and library, a Roman Catholic cathedral and a 

 museum. Aside from its iron-manufacturing 

 industries, the town is also noted for ship- 

 building. There are large docks, a two-and-a- 

 half mile breakwater and an excellent harbor. 

 The tonnage of incoming and outgoing vessels 

 per year is about 3,250,000, and the district 

 produces annually over two million tons of pig 

 iron. Population, 1911, 104,760. 



MID'DLETON, SIR FREDERICK DOBSON (1825- 

 1898), a British soldier, best remembered for 

 his services in suppressing the Saskatchewan, or 

 Riel, Rebellion in Canada in 1885. Sir Fred- 

 erick was born at Belfast, Ireland. At the early 

 age of seventeen he was graduated from the 

 Royal Military College at Sandhurst, and there- 

 after was in active service in Australia, New 

 Zealand and India. During the Indian Mutiny 

 of 1857 and 1858 the Victoria Cross was given 

 him for valor. From 1868 to .1870 he was in 

 Canada with his regiment, and in 1884 returned 

 to the Dominion as commander-in-chief of the 

 238 



militia. When the Saskatchewan Rebellion 

 broke out General Middleton at once took 

 charge of operations and himself commanded 

 the right, which advanced from Qu'Appelle to 

 Batoche and defeated the rebels in the Battle 

 of Fish Creek. As his reward General Middle- 

 ton received a grant of $20,000 from the Do*- 

 minion Parliament and the honor of knight- 

 hood from Queen Victoria. He remained in 

 Canada until 1890, when he returned to Eng- 

 land. In 1896 he was appointed keeper of the 

 crown jewels. 



MIDDLETOWN, CONN., a county seat of 

 Middlesex County, situated in the southwest- 

 ern part of the state and on the west bank of 

 the Connecticut River. Hartford, the state capi- 

 tal, is fourteen miles north. Transportation is 

 provided by the New York, New Haven & 

 Hartford Railway and by the river, which to 

 this point is navigable for smaller vessels. Ii*- / 

 terurban lines radiate from the city in all di- 

 rections. In 1910 the population was 11,851; 

 in 1916 it was 13,273 (Federal estimate). 



The region around Middletown is a rich agri- 

 cultural country, especially adapted to the 

 growth of tobacco. Through its water power 

 and shipping facilities the city has become a 

 manufacturing center of importance. Among 

 the varied articles produced are pumps, marine 

 hardware, woolen blankets, hammocks, rubber, 

 bone, silk goods, electrical appliances and sil- 

 ver-plated ware. Valuable sandstone is quar- 

 ried in Portland, a city on the opposite bank 

 of the river, connected with Middletown by a 

 long drawbridge. The municipal building, Mid- 

 dlesex Hospital and the Russell Free Library, 

 containing 15,000 volumes, are the noteworthy 

 buildings, and one mile southeast are the im- 

 posing buildings of the state hospital for the 

 insane. Middletown has Wesleyan University, 

 with a library of 60,000 volumes; Berkeley Di- 

 vinity School (Protestant Episcopal) , opened in 

 1854, and the state industrial school for girls. 



Middletown was founded in 1650 and is one 

 of the oldest cities in the state. In 1651 it was 

 incorporated as the town of Mattabeseck, the 

 present name being adopted in 1653; in 1784 it 

 became a city. 



MIDDLETOWN, N. Y., is a city in Orange 

 County, in the southeastern part of the state, 

 sixty-seven miles northwest of New York City. 

 It is on the Erie, the New York, Ontario & 

 Western and the Middletown & Unionville 

 railroads, and has an interurban line to Goshen. 

 The area of the city is four square miles. The 

 population in 1910 was 15,313; in 1916 it was 



