B E R 



plainly appears to be Noah. Pliny (H. N. I.vj. c. 55. 1. vli. 

 c. 31 and 37.) iiitorms us, that his book coinained the allro- 

 jiomical obfervatlonsi of 4S0 years, commencing from the 

 Rra of Nabonaffar. Aniiius, a monk of Viterbo, publifhed 

 a work under the name of this hiilorian, full of fables, which 

 obtained foaie credit among the learned, bnt was foon re- 

 cognized to be a forgery. Berofus is faid to liave had a 

 daughter who uttered predictions kl:e himfcif, and became 

 tlic Cumaan fibyl. Briicker's Hith Phil, by Enfield, vol. i. 

 p. 34. Bryant's Analyfis, vol.iii. p. 25, Sec. Fabricius, 

 Bib, GrEC. vol. xiv, p. 17^. 



Berosus, in Anc'urt Geography, a mountain of theTauric 

 Cherfonefus, fouth of mount Trapezu?. This chain of 

 mountains comprehends, according to M. PcylTonnel, the 

 mountains now called " Tehadir-dagi," the higheft of the 

 whole peninfula, and thofe of " Balyklava," and "Cabarta." 



EEROTH. Ste Bieroth. 



BEROTHAjor Beroth, a city fituated on the northern 

 frontiers of Paleftine ; fuppofed to be the fame with " Bero- 

 thai," one of the cities of Hadadezer, which David took, 

 and in which he found much brafs. (2 Sam. viii. 8.) Ac- 

 cording to fome, this was Beroe of Syria, according to 

 ethers, Berytus of Phenicia, or the fame that is mentioned 

 by Ezekiel (ch. .\lvii. 16.) between Hethalon and Emefa. 



BERQUET, in Commerce, a weight of 173 pounds, by 

 which hemp and other goods are fold in Ruffia. 



BERQUIN, Louis de, in Biography, was born in Ar- 

 tois abo\it 1490, and was much elteemed at the court of 

 I'laiice, where he obtained the title of king's counfellor. 

 Although he does not appear to have left the Catholic 

 church, or joined the Lutherajis, he followed the example 

 of Eiahnus, in declaiming againll the ignorance and fupcr- 

 iUtion of the clergy. Having incurred the charge of herefy 

 by his publications, which were chiefly books of Erafmus, 

 and extratls from his works and thofe of others, with his 

 own notes, he was twice profecuted ; b'.it in the firll inilance 

 acquitted, and in the fecund condemned, unlefs he retraced 

 his errors, and gave fatisfaclion, to be burnt. His fpirit was 

 refolute, and he demurred againll fubmiffion ; his judges, 

 however, defirous of faving him, deferred the execution of 

 the fentencc ; and upon the return of Francis I. from Spain, 

 he was fet at liberty. But Berquin, though diiluadcd trom 

 it by Erafmus, publicly accufed his enemies, Noel, Beda, 

 and others, of irreligion ; and upon a third profecution, he 

 was fentericed to make a public recantation, and to fuller 

 perpetual imprifonment. Refufing to acquiefce in this fen- 

 tence, becaufe it implied an acknowledgment on his part, 

 that his fentiments were erroneous, he was condemned as an 

 cbflinate heretic, and accordingly ilrangled on the Grevc, 

 a public place near the Seine, appropriated to bonfires and 

 the execution of criminals, and afterwards burnt. He 

 fufFered death with great conftancy in April 1529; and 

 thougli the monk who attended him intimated that he dif- 

 covered fome figns of abjuration at the ilake, Erafmus af- 

 cribes the fuggeftion to the fraud and falfchood ufually 

 praftifed on iuch cccalions. Berquin was a perlon of great 

 abihtifs, invincible fortitude, and irreproachable charafter. 

 Gen. Di'ft. Jortin's Life of Erafmus, vol. ii. p. 476 — 478. 



BERRA. See Beria. 



BERRE, in Geography, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the mouths of the Rhone, and chief place of a can- 

 ton, in the diftrid of Aix, fituated at the mouth of a river, 

 running into the lake of Martigues, called " the lake of 

 Berre," in an unhealthy climate. It was formerly one of 

 the Ilrongefl: towns of Provence. It was taken after a long 

 fiege, in 1591, by Charles Em.aiiuel, duke of Savoy, during 

 the wars of the league ; and when the reft of the province 



B E R 



ftibmitted to Henry IV., he could not drive the Savoyards 

 from Berre, till it was given up in 1598, in confequence of 

 the peace of Vervais ; 4^ leagues S.W. of Aix. The popu- 

 lation of the town is eftimated at 1800, and of the canton at 

 6769 perfons. The territory comprehends 257I kcliome- 

 tres, and fix communes, 



BERREA, in Ancient Geography, Bra, a town of Bul- 

 garia, 10 or 12 leagues from Philippopohs, upon the river 

 Braefa. 



BERRETINI, Peter, commonly called Pltro da Cor- 

 tona, in B'i'jgraphy, an eminent painter of hifl ,ry and knd- 

 fcape, was born at Cortona, in Tufcany, in 1596 ; and ac- 

 quired the firft rudiments of his art under Andrea Commodi, 

 and Baccio Ciarpi. At Rome, whither he went in his 

 youth, he lludied the antiques, in the works of Raphael, Buo- 

 naroti, and Polidoro, with fuch diligence, that he attained 

 to great excellence as an artift. At this early period, he 

 was patronized and employed by the marquis Sacchetti ; and 

 in his palace, he painted the " rape of the Sabines," and the 

 " battle of Alexander," which were much admired for in- 

 vention, difpofition, elevation of thought, and an excellent 

 tone of colour, and deemed to be equal to the performances 

 of the beft mafters. His fame was completely eftabUfhed 

 at Rome, by the faloon of the Barberini palace, and by 

 feveral works in the Vatican, and in fome of the principal 

 churches of the city. For further improvement, he travelled 

 through Lombardy and Venice ; and returning by way of 

 Florence, he was employed by the grand duke Ferdinand II. 

 in decorating fome rooms in the Pitti palace, with piftures 

 of virtuous and hei'oic aftions from ancient hiftory. At 

 Rome, where he afterwards refided, he adorned the gallery 

 of the palace of Innocent X. on the piazza Navona, with 

 various fubjefts from the ^neid : and as an architeft, in 

 which profefiion he excelled, he gave defigns for a number 

 of churches, palaces, chapels and monuments. To the 

 church of St. Martina, which was of his own conftruftion, lie 

 left a large fum for the eredlion of a grand altar-piece of 

 bronze, and of his own maufoleum. Pope Alexander VII. 

 was fo well fatisfied with the portico he built for the church 

 of Peace, that he made him a knight of the golden fpur, 

 and gave him a rich crofs, appendant to a gold cham. lu 

 his more affluent and more humble condition, Bcrretini dif- 

 played the fame equanimity, and uniformly maintained a 

 refpeftable charaifler. The gout, to which he was fubjeft, 

 difabled him, towaids the clofe of life, from undertaking 

 any great works, and at length confined him to his bed. 

 He died at Rome in 1669. " As an artift, his charafler 

 was richnefs of invention, with grace, beauty, and facihty 

 of execution. His difpofitions are fine, his management of 

 lights good, and his ornaments and back-grounds charming ; 

 but his drawing is incorreft, his figures defective in expref- 

 fion, and too much alike. His frefco paintings were un- 

 commonly brilliant and clear. He fucceeded better in great 

 compofitions than in fmall. An Italian writer has faid of him, 

 that " he had fire in his colours, vehemence in his hands, 

 and fury in his pencil." Befides his capital works in the 

 palazzo Sacchietti, the Barberini palace, and the palazzo Pitti 

 at Florence, there is, in the palace of the king of Sardinia 

 at Turin, a fmall fl<etch reprefenting the " Annunciation of 

 the Virgin," which is touched with exquifite flcill and fpirit, 

 and in the palace of the prince dclla Torre, at Naples, 

 there is an incomparable pifture of the " Flight into Eg\'pt." 

 The defign is corredl ; the heads are wonderfully graceful ; 

 the compofition is extremely fine, and the colouring is ex- 

 cellent. Many of his works have been engraved by the beft 

 artiftf. D'Argenville Vies des Peintres. Pilkington. 



BERRETONI, Nicolo, an hillorical painttr, was bom ■ 



at 



