B R E 



lilt difpiites occurring amon(> his ftiCccfTors, it was fulJ by 

 one of them, viz. Henry VI., to John, king of Boliemia, 

 who, aficr the dtath of Hcnr>', in 1 3 •i5, incorporated it 

 with the crown of Rohemia, endowing tlie city, at the lame 

 time, witli divers i.-nportant privileges ; and the kings of 

 B»hemia aUva; s appointed governors over that pvincipahty. 

 In I ^^7, kin.j John alTigned the gorcrnmeiit to the city of 

 lircfiau'; and,' in 1505, king Wladillaus transferred the ju- 

 dicaturf of tlie whole princip.ility to tlie fume city : fo that 

 the chitf ma(jillr..te occnpicd the part of governor vnuil the 

 vear li^^jj, when botli the government and judicatiins were 

 fiirrendertd to the emperor Ferdinand III.; and in this 

 Hate' it continued, till it was nnited to PrnlTia. It is di- 

 vided into four circles: vi/. thofe of Brtllau, Ncuniarkt, 

 Canth. and Namllau ; and, together with the dillrict of 

 C.logaw, it includes 53 cities, loH towns, 14 market-towns, 

 and between 5 and 6 thoufand villages, 2000 catholic 

 churche?, 605 prottliant churches, 20 abbeys, <;l convents, 

 and 59,000 htanhs in the citie;. The principal river of 

 this principality, of whicli the property and jnrifdidion 

 belong to the kin^, is the Oder, which, in its courfe 

 through the country, receives the inferior dreams of Ohlau, 

 Lohe, Weyda, and Weillritz. 



Bresiai;, or liREsi-.vw, the cnpital of the above-de- 

 fcribed princip:ility, and of the whole duchy of Silefia, is fi- 

 tu.ited on the fou'th fide of the Oder, which receives the 

 Ohlau after its windinjj ccurfe through Old Brellau. This 

 place, the antiquity ot which is uncertain, was fet on fire 

 by the Tartars in 124 1, and was formerly environed by the 

 Oiilau, as with a moat ; and all without the Ohlau to the 

 wall* in their prefcnt pofition, were additions made by the 

 emperor Charles IV. The Neudadt is more modern, and, 

 iince the year 1529, has been included within the fortifica- 

 tions, which are now, indeed, of no great importance. 

 The whole town, both old and new, including the fuburbs, 

 is of great extent, being no lefs than two German miles in 

 lentTth. It is reckoned one of the moll beautiful cities in 

 Germany ; an(l has feveral large regular fquares, broad 

 ftreef •!, and (lately edifices, both public and private. The Ro- 

 man catholics have feveral churches and convents; the Luthe- 

 rans have feven churches within the walls, and two without, 

 andtwogymnafmms; theCalviniilsand theGreeks have, sach 

 of them, one church ; and the Jews have two fynagogucs. 

 The popiih univerilty is a uoble edifice ; and the exchange, 

 adjoining to the council-houfe, is an elegant ilrufture. Se- 

 veral of its monafteries and convents are magnificent build- 

 ings : and it has fome good public libraries, with two armou- 

 ries, a college of phyficians, and a mint. Brtilau holds the 

 third rank, next to Berlin and Konlgfberg, among the cities 

 of Prudia. It is the centre of all the trade of Silefia, and 

 it! manufaftures are confiderable and various. The number 

 of its inhabitants is ellimated at about 52,000 : and as 

 it has feveral annual fairs, it is much frequented by Hun- 

 garian, Bohemian, Polilh, and other mercliaius. The ma- 

 gillracy, which is Lutheran, confills of a town-court a: d a 

 council ; and its confillory is likevvife Lutheran. This city 

 was taken by the king of Pruliia in 1741 ; compelled to fur- 

 render to the Anftrians in 1757 ; and retaken by the Fruf- 

 fian army'at the clofe of the lame year, after a fignal viAory 

 over the Aullrians in its vicinity. In the lail fiege, feveral 

 of its churches were much damaged, the library of St. 

 Mary Magdalen was dellroycd by the burlling of a bomb, 

 and Its Cobnrbs were condderably injured, N. lat. Ji" 3'. 



E. loig. i7*'-'45"- 



BRKSLE, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Oife, and diHriit of Beauvais ; 7 miles S. E. of Beauvais. 

 — Alfoj a rivtr of Fraace, which riics uear Au.T.«k, and 



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feparates the Jopai-tmeut of the Sommc, from that of the 

 Lure, till :t falls into the fea at Tiepoit. 



BRKSMx\, in Ichthyok^y, a name given by Hildegard, 

 and feveral others, to the Bream, Cvprinus Brama, 

 which fee. 



BRESMAL, JoHS Francis, in Biography, a phyfi- 

 cifln at Liege, was born in the year lO.fo. Alter iludying 

 fome years at home, he went to Paris, where he was ad- 

 mitted doftor in medicine, in 1689. In the courfe of his 

 travels, he had turned his attention, in a particular manner, 

 to invelli"-ating the properties of the moft celebrated mine- 

 ral fprings, of which, on his return to Liege.he pubiiihed 

 analvles, giving alfo accounts of their virtues in the cure of 

 difcafis. The titles of his works are, " La circulation des 

 eaux, ou I'hydrographie des minerales d'Aix, et de Spa." 

 Liege, ifiyy, l2ino. " Defcription, feu analyfis de fontis, 

 S. .,€gidii, prope Tunyros," 1700, i2mo. He cites a 

 defcription of this fpring from Pliny. " Parallele des eaux 

 minerales chaudes et froides du diocefe de Liege. Avec iin 

 avis au public, pour le preferver de la pelle, &c." 1721, 

 8vo. For the titles of other works by this writer, on the 

 fubjeft of mineral waters, fee Eloy. Dift. Hid. 



BRESSAN, in Gen-^rapby. See Brescia. 



BRESSAY, or Brassa, one of the Shetland iflands of 

 Scotland, about 4 miles long, and 2 broad, feparatcd from 

 the main land of Shetland by a narrow fea, called " BrelTay 

 found," forming a fpacious harbour, in which a thoufand 

 fliips may ride at the fame time. In this harbour, the 

 Dutch vefTels, employed in the herring filhery, aflemble 

 about the middle of June. The inhabitants of Breffay fit 

 out about 26 large fifiiing boats. The mountains fupply 

 (late for building, and peat for firing. N. lat. 60" 20'. W. 

 long. 0° jo'. 



BRESSE, a country of France, fo denominated before 

 the revolution, from a foreft called " Brcxia," fituate ia 

 the province of Burgundy, and bounded on the eaft by Sa- 

 voy, on the fouth by Viennois, on the well by Lyonnois 

 and Dombcs, and on the north by Franche Comte. It is 

 ellimated at 40 miles from north to fouth, and 23 from eaft 

 to weft. It is fertile in corn and hemp, and has fine paf. 

 tures and feveral lakes, abounding with fifli. For fome 

 time, it was an earldom fubjedl to the dukes of Savoy, who 

 added it in 1601 to France, in lieu of the marquifate of Sa- 

 luzzo. The principal towns are Bourg, the capital, Beauge 

 or Bauge, Coligny, Montreuil, Loge, and Pont de Vaux. 



BRESSICI, or Breste. See Brzesc. 



BRESSOLES, feeBREzoLEs. 



BRESSUIRE, a town of France, in the department of 

 the two Sevres, and chief place of a canton, in the diftri<5t 

 of Thouars. The town contains 6jo, and the canton, 591 1 

 inhabitants : the territory includes 290 kiliometres, and 13 

 communes. 



BRESSUS, or Brepus, in Anc'tenl Geography, a town 

 of Afia in Armenia Major, fituate near the Euphrates, ao- 

 cording to Ptolemy. 



BREST, or Breast, in ylrchitedure, a term ufed by 

 fome, for that member of a column otherwife called the Ton, 



Brest-summers, or Bressumers, in Building, a;ie 

 pieces of timber defigned for the fupport of the brick-work 

 in the front or rear wall of a building, for carrying arches, 

 &c. In the inner parts of a building, the pieces into which 

 the girders are framed are called summers.. 



Brest, in Geography, a ft.a port town of Fi-ance, and 

 principal place of a diilricl, in thc> department of Finiilerre. 

 The number of inhabitants in the 3 parts, into which it is di- 

 vided, is ellimated at 27,003; the firft canton contains 

 ijjCQO, and includes <2i kiliometres, and one cocimune ; 



t'ii& 



