﻿•n 



MONOUOTAPA. 



MONT-DAUPHIN. 



fran tiiU tiro* tke Romui* oeeapM their ootintry until A.a 408, 



' : r 830 jcara. During tha Heptaroh; the Saxons and the 



iicee were continually at war ; tlrn Saxoni droTo bick their 



......,....,», and compelled them to pay trilmto. Wale* w»* now 



di»id< d into three principalitiea— Owtui <!.l, Powinland, and Ueheu- 

 barth. Monmoothabirr, once within tin- limita of Debonbarth, after- 

 ward* formrd at tome time* a separate diatrict under the name of 

 Oweot, at othrn waa comprehended in Morgannrg, or the Iciogdom of 

 Olamortpui. Canute entered Owrnt in 1034, and defeate<l the prince 

 uf South Walee, and the Eogliab occupied the cnstlea of Monmouth, 

 Chepttow, and Caerleon before the Norman Conqueet. The Norman 

 baroni made incursion* at their own expense, «nd were rewarde<l with 

 the rift of the lands which they sulxlued. The barons held the^e 

 lands by fi^udsl tenure under the crown, and built castles and towns. 

 Henry VIIL, in the 27th year of his reign, abolished the gorrmment 

 of the lonla of the marches, divided Wales into 12 shires, and annexed 

 Monmonthshire to England. 



Two Roman roads traTersed this county : the Via Julia, extending 

 from the mouth of the Serem to Caerwent, Caerleon, and onwards to 

 Neath ; and Akeman-atreet, running eastward from Caerwent over the 

 rivt-n Wye and Sevpm to Cirrncester. The stations which antiquaries 

 have acknowledged to be lioman are — laca Silurum (Caerleon), Venta 

 Silnrum (Caerwent), and Gobannium (Abergavenny). The county 

 oontains many Roman encampinenti (called caen or gaers), and 

 anmerons dniidical remains. Of this lant class of antiquities the three 

 •tone pillars on the summit of a hill near Trelech church, a short 

 distance from Llandogo, are the tiiost famous. 



In no part of England ore to be found remains of so many feudal 

 eastles us ure met with in that part of Munmouthshire east of the Usk. 

 Those connected with the chief towns are noticed in the articl>'S 

 before refcrtvd to. In Wentwood Forest or Chase, a wooded tract of ' 

 2200 acres belonging to the Duke of Beaufort, are ruius of no less | 

 than fire castles, and there were originally six. But the grandest 

 irmains of this kind in the county are Raglan Coatle, Caldecot Cjstle, 

 and While Ca«tlt-. The ruins of llaglan Castle, the ancestral seat of 

 the Duke of Beaufort, are situated near the village of Raglan, on a 

 grotle elevation to the right of the rosd leading from Chep'<tow to 

 Abergavenny. The different parts of the building present specimens 

 of the styles that prevailed from the time of Henry V. to the early 

 part uf liie 17th ceutui7. After the battle of Naseby, in 1615, 

 Charles I. took refuge in Raglan Castle for two months ; and this was 

 the hut eustle in England that de8ed the power of Cromwell. The 

 Maiqais of Worcester, iu owner, then eiyhty-Sve years old. defended 

 h against Fairfax from June 8rd to August 19th, when a capitulation 

 waa effeoted on honourable terms. The farmers of the neighbourhood 

 for a ceiiturr afterwards used this noble structure as a quarry. Enough 

 however still remains to convey an idea of its olden grandeur. Caldeoot 

 Castle, partly of Norman erection, is situated near Caerwent, and a 

 little to the lea of New Passage. It waa long held by the Bohuns, 

 *mA of Hereford ; it now belongs to the duchy of Lancaster. The 

 plan is rectangular, with round towers at the corners. The principal 

 Mtt* remaining are the grand entrance gateway, the ball, and the 

 Mcp. White Osatle, a gigantic moated ruin, on a high ridge fire miles 

 MM from AbngaTmny, is a place of immense strenKth. Part of it 

 date* from before the Norman Conquest Its massive wails, flanked 

 by huge round towers, with the extensive barbican, remain entire. 



The principal erclesiastical antiquities of this county are Tintem 

 and LlanthoMy abbeys. The well-known ruins of TinU-m Abbev are 

 •itnatvd on the right bank of the Wye, about nine miles below Mon- 

 mouth. The roof and tower of the building have fallen, bnt the 

 nter part of the rest of the sbbey remains iu tolerable preservation. 

 ■ a singuUily beautiful example of the transition style from early 

 English to decorated. The abbey was founded in 1181 for Cistercian 

 monks by Wslter de Clare, and dedicated to St Mary. The abbot* 

 and monks first oelebr*t<-d mass within the church in 1268. The 

 whole is now the property of the Duke of Beaufort. Llanthony 

 Abbey stands at the foot of the Black Mountain, in the Vale of Ewias. 

 The abbr-y was cruciform, and, though of small dimensions, well 

 proportiuned. The building is of the 1 2th century, and in a style of 

 %MMtti«ii fkom Norman to early English architecture. 



Abfiew Worthip and Sducation. — According to the Returns of 

 Mm Cmuu* for 1861 it appears that in March of that year there were 

 4M plaoM of worship in the county, of which 169 belonged to the 

 Church of England, 126 to five classes of Methodist*, 79 to Baptists, 

 SI to Inile[«ndeiit«, 8 to Roman CathoUrs, and 6 to Mormon*. The 

 t^l nomb-r of sittings provided wa» 106,201. The nnmtjer of day 

 MhooUwa* 295. of which 118 wei» public schools with 10,120 scholars, 

 ■ad 177 were privsU school* with 4096 scholars. The number of 

 BiiDday sebooli ws* 278, with 26,622 scholars. Of litemry and 

 •dMitifle it4*itutioi» the county contained 6, with 744 members, and 

 17S4 VuhuDea in the Ul<rarif* belonging to them. 



^••SS* ^^**— 'n IMS MonmoathKhire pusse**ed 6 savings banks, 

 at Abcrxarwny, Cbapatow, Monmouth, Newport, and PontypooL 

 Tb« totd amount owing to depositor* on November 20th 1853 wa* 

 128.87M 111. lOrf. 



MONOMOTAPA [Sotala.] 



MONONOAHBLA. [Mntnum, Rivn.] 



MONOPOLL [Bam, Tnnu ol] 



MONPAZIER. [DOBSOOSB.] 



MONPONT. IDoBDooKB.] 



MUNROR [MicmoAK.] 



MONROVIA. [LiBrtiiA.] 



MONS (Bergtit»), the capital of the provinoe of Hainault, is situated 

 in 80° 27' N. lat, 8' 69' E. long., on the river TrouOle (by which the 

 city is divided into two parts), 88 miles by railway S. from Ilrussehi, 

 20 miles K.N.E. from Valenciennes, and has 25,000 inhabitants. It is 

 surrounded by strong fortifications in form of a polygon flanked with 

 1 4 bastions. It is supposed that Mons ooonpies the site of the Roman 

 station which was so bravely defended by Quintos Cicero, brother of 

 the orator, against the attacks of the Eburones, Norvii, and other 

 tribes (' De Bell. Uall.,' t. 89-52). About a.d. 658 a hermitagt-, and 

 then a chapel, dedicated to St Peter, were built on the spot ; and some 

 time after Alberio, count of Hainault, made it his place of residence, 

 a circumstance which attracted many other inhabitant*. The town 

 from this time went on increasing, and in 804 Charlemagne made it 

 the capital of Hainault Towards the end of the lOtb century Mons 

 sa*tained a siege against Hugh Capet, and about SO years later was 

 again invested by Baldwin of Flanders. In 1290 the city was enlarged, 

 and new walls, inclosing a greater area, were built In the war which 

 Jacqueline of Bavaria, countess of Hainault, sustained with the duke 

 of Burgundy, Mous, after an obstinate resistance, fell into his bauds 

 in 1486. Under the reign of Charles V. Mons attained the highest 

 degree of prosperity ; and such was the extent of the woollen manu- 

 facture carried on, that at the hour when the workmen left thi-ir 

 labour the street* were too narrow for the traffic, and the passing of 

 carriage* through them was forbidden. Mauuiiactures of hardware 

 were also pursued, and there were several streets wholly inhabited by 

 goldsmiths. This state of prosperity was cut short br the exactions 

 of the Duke of Alva in 1569, which caused the inhabitants to rvrolt 

 After some resistance they capitulated, and many were driven from 

 the city, others executed. Mons was quiet under the rule of the arch- 

 dukes of Austria, but its prosperity had paaaed away. In 1678 Hotu 

 was invested by the Freuoh under Mamhal Luxemburg, but the siege 

 wa* raised in consequence of the treaty of Nimeguen. In 1691 the 

 city was again asoailod by Louis XIV., and waa defended with the 

 greatest bravery until the walls were altogether destroyeii, and nearly 

 all the houses were in ruins. Mous remained in possesidon of the 

 French until the peace of Kyswick. They occupied it again in 1701, 

 an<i were besieged in 1709 by Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marl- 

 borough, to whom the town capitulated 24 days after the opening of 

 the trenches. By the treaty of Utrecht, Mons was restored to Austria : 

 it was taken again by the French in 1746, and reverted to Austria onoe 

 more in 1748. It was taken by the French under Dumourier in 1792. 

 In 1794 it was declared part of France, and wa* the capital of the 

 department of Jemappe until 1814. The fortifications were greatly 

 strengthened in 1818. The east side of the town is protected by two 

 large ponds, and the whole neighbourhood can be inundated by means 

 of the TrouiUe. 



Mons is entered by 5 gates. It contains 76 streets, beside* a great 

 number of lanes. The former are for the most part wide, clean, and 

 well paved. There are 8IS84 houses, with a population of 28,231. 



The church of St Waudru, which is built on the site of the 

 hermitage alreatly mentioned, is a rrmarkablu specimen of Qothic 

 architecture, and one of the finest ornaments of the city. The present 

 building, the first stone of which waa laid iu 1460, was not finished 

 until 1689. There are several other churches in Mons, of which St. 

 Elisabeth'* is surmounted by a rich cupola. The other buildings of 

 note in the city are: — the town-hall, built in 1440; the tower of the 

 castle, built on the site of Caesar's Castrum iu 1662 ; the Palace of 

 Justice; the college; the military hospital; the arsenal; and the 

 theatre. 



Mons ha* several sugar and salt refinerie*, soap- and itaroh-works, 

 oil-crushing-uiills, saw-mills, and flour-mills. Woollen and cotton 

 manufactures, cutlery, pins, gloves, and small wares are also manu- 

 factured. It derives groat advantage* from the numerous productive 

 coal-fields by which it is surrouuded. Steam-engines are employed for 

 draining the mines and for lilting the coal, which is largely exported 

 by railway and canal to France. There arc about 400 pits iii the coal- 

 field of Mons, in which over 26,000 persons are employed. There ore 

 extensive bleaching-gruunds in the vicinity of Mons. The town is 

 the residence of many rich praprietorii, and is the centre of a very 

 active trade in coals, flax, hemp, grain of various kinds, mill-stones, 

 horses, aud cattle. 



Mons has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and is the 

 residence of the governor of Hainault It ha* communication by 

 railway with oil parts of Belgium aud Frauce. A canal, fed by the 

 Haine, wliich posses close to the town, runs from Mons to the Scbelde 

 at Coudtf, in tue French department of Nord; it was cut by the 

 French between 1807 aud 1814 lor the mora ready conveyance uf coal. 

 A new branch ha* been recently cut from this canal to enter the 

 Schelde lower down, where both bank* of tnat river belong to Belgium. 

 About 1 mUes south from Mons is Molplaquet, where the Duke of 

 Marlborough and Prince Eugene defeaUsi the French in 1709, but 

 with a lo** of 20,000 mea 



MONSAHAS. [AuxTKro.] 



MONT-DAUPHIN. [ALpi, Hautis.] 



