B R U 



Cevennes. The Abb6 Brueys, as lie was ufually flylcd, 

 died at Moiitpelli<.'r in 1723. His dramatic works were col- 

 lefted into 3 vols, in 17.55. Noiiv. Diet. Hill. 



I'Rl'FF, in Geography, a finall poll and market town of 

 Ireland, in the county of Limerick ; fituate on the road 

 from Cork to Limerick ; 12 miles S. of the latter city, and 

 lofi n-.'e? S.W.of Dublin. 



BRUFFIER, La, a town of France, in the department 

 of tii-j vendee, and dillrift of Montaigu; ij leagues E.N.E. 

 of M ntaiaju. 



KRUGD, in Ichthyology, See Squalls Maximus, 

 great Jhark. 



BRUGES, John of, \n Biography. See Eyck. 



Bruges, in Geography, a town ol France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Lower Pyrenees, and dillriiil ot Pan ; 4 leagues 

 S. of Pan. 



Bruges, once a commercial, flouriihinjT, and populous 

 city of the Aullrian Netherlands, and a bilhop's fee, and 

 now, fince the French revolution, the capital ot a diftrift, in 

 the department ot the Lys, which is divided into five parts; 

 the'firtl part containing, according to Tuifeau's ilatillical 

 view oc France, 9508 inhabitants, the canton 14,444, and 

 its territory comprehending 207-^ kiliometres, and five com- 

 munes : tlie lecond part includes 7049, and its canton 13,022 

 inhabitants ; its territory comprehends 70 kiliometres, 

 and 4 communes : the third part contains 755,;, and the 

 canton 13,896 inhabitants ; its territory includes loj kilio- 

 metres, and 7 communes : the fourth part contains 6796, 

 and its canton 14,320 inhabitants ; its territory compre- 

 hends 107! kiliometres, and 1 1 communes : and the fifth 

 part contains 2821, and its canton 11,974 inhabitants ; '^^ 

 territory includes 147-5 kiliometres, ^'"^ 12 communes. Ac- 

 cording to this llatemcnt the population of Bruges amounts 

 to 3J,70Dpcrfons ; but others, by a more m jderate compu 

 tation, elHmate the number at 2 3,003. Bruges is about a 

 league and a half in circumference ; is advantageoufly fituatcd 

 for commerce, about 8 miles from the fea ; and communi- 

 cates, by means of navigable canals, with Ghent, Ollend, 

 Nieuport, Fiirnes, Damme, Sluys, &c. As the adjacent 

 country is nearly level, the water about it has no perceptible 

 current ; but it is eafily changed in half an hour's time, by 

 opening the fluices, and difcharging it into the fea. Ac- 

 cordnig to Giiiccardiiu, this city was firll founded about the 

 year 760; and took its name from a bridge called " Brug- 

 ilock," in its vicinity, between O'idembourg and Radem- 

 bourg or Ardemboiirg, vvhich are two maritime towns, faid 

 to have had confiderable comm ice in this country, till they 

 were ruined by tlie Danes or Normans. Out of the ruins 

 of Oudembourg was built the original town or caltle of 

 Bruges. In the ijth and 14th centuries, Bruges was the 

 greatell emporium in all Europe. Navigation was then fo 

 imperfect, that a voyage between the Baltic and the Medi- 

 terranean could not be performed in one fummcr ; and, 

 therefore, it became neceffary to ellabliih a magazine or 

 rtorehoufe about midway between the commercal cities in 

 the North and thofe in Italy. Bruges was feletted as the 

 moll convenient ftation ; and this choice of courfe intro- 

 duced vail wealth into the Low Countries. Bruges was at 

 once the llaple for Englifh wool ; for the woollen and hiicn 

 manufaftures of the Netherlands ; for the naval llores, and 

 other bulky commodities of the North ; and for the Indian 

 commodities, as well as domeftic productions, imported by 

 the Italian Hates. The extent of its commerce in Indian 

 goods, with Venice alone, appears from one fatt. In the 

 year Ji3, five Venetian galealles laden with Indian commo- 

 dities arrived at Bruges, in order to difpole ot their cargoes 

 at the fair, Thefe galeaffes were veflels of confiderable bur- 



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den. The citizens of Bruges, enriched by Its commffce, 

 difphyed in their drefs, their buildin^^s, and lluir mode of 

 living, fucli magnificence as even to mortify the pride and 

 c.Kcite the envy of royalty. To this purpofe we may men- 

 tion a ilngii! ir inllnnce. In 1301, Joanna of Navarre, the 

 wife o; Philip le Bi.', king of France, havin;,; been fome 

 days ir. Bnigis, was fo much Ifruck with the grandeur and 

 wealth of that city, and pirtieularly with the fplendid ap- 

 pea ance of the wives of the citizens, lh.it (he was moved 

 (lays Guiccardiiii, Demerit, de Paefi Bafii, p. 40S,) by fe- 

 male envy to exclaim with indignation, " I thought that t 

 had been the only queen here, but I find there are many 

 hundred more." However, in the year i4S7,lhis city, be- 

 come rich and alfo inlolent, in confequence of its txteiifive 

 commerce, liad the audacity to ftize on Maxiniilian, king of 

 the Romans, and to kill tome of his minillers in hiaprefcnce. 

 This violent infnit brought about its ruin ; for the emperor 

 Frederick, fatli.r of Maximilian, took occafiou to block up 

 Sluys, its proper haven, by the alEllance of Anf.verp and 

 Amilerdam, whic!. had been for fome time envious of its 

 engroffing the whole trade of the Low Countries ; upon 

 which the commerce removed from Bruges to Dort, and 

 from thence foon a'ter to Antwerp. According to Thu- 

 anus ar 1 Gnicc=irdini, it removed direflly to Antwerp, which 

 foon vied with Bruges in opulence and fplcndonr. " Till 

 this time (fays bifliop Huet, in his " Memoirs of the Dutch 

 trade,") there was fcarce a nation in Europe, how incon- 

 fiderable foever, tliat had not their proper mercantile maga- 

 zine or ftore-houfe at Bruges, and a company or factory 

 tliere refiding ; as the En^lifli, French, bcotS", Callihans/- 

 Portuguefe, thofe of Arragon, Catalonia, Bifcay, Venice, 

 Florence, Genoa, Lucca, Milan, Germany, Denmark, 

 Sweden, and all the Hanfe towns." The penfionary, De 

 V/it, in his " Intereft ..f Holland," accounts in a fomewhat 

 different manner for the lofs of its commerce, which Bruges 

 futlained. He fays, that the fiflurics ar.d mau',:ff;elurcs of 

 the Netherlands increafed more and more, together with the 

 traffic by fea to BruRes, which tailed till the year 1482, 

 when Flanders had wars with the archduke Maximilian, 

 about the guardiandiip of his fon and his dominions, which 

 continued for ten years. In the mean time, Sluys, the 

 fea-port of Bruges, being mod difturbcd, thofe of Ant- 

 werp and Amfterdam, in order to draw the trade to, their 

 own cities, afliiled the archduke in his unbridled tyranny 

 and barbarous dellruftion of that country, and thereby re- 

 gained his favour, and attained their own ends. Notwith- 

 (landing the decline of its commerce, Bruges, having a com- 

 munication with the fea from Ollend, by means of a navi- 

 gable canal, is Hill a place of confiderable trade; and has 

 various manufadtures of broad fays, baize, and other wool- 

 lens. 



Bruges was formerly in the diocefe of Tfiurnay ; but ia 

 1559, it was crefted into a biihopric, by Philip It. king of 

 Spain, fiibjeft to the aichbifhop of Malines. In 14JO, Phi- 

 lip the good, duke of Burgundy, inllituted at Bruges llie 

 order of the golden fleece". The parts about the city which 

 belong to this order are called " Franc of Bruges," and 

 contain 37 villages, and accordingly enjoy certain imrr-.nui- 

 ties. The llreets of Bruges, which are about 2G0 in num- 

 ber, are fpacious, and the houfes, though old, well built ; 

 it has ftven gates, and fix grand markets ; but, having 

 neither fountain nor river, the city is fnpplied with water 

 from the rivers Lys and Scheldt, conveyed from Ghent by 

 means of pipes. The pruicipal buildings are the tov.'n- 

 houfe, built in the Gothic manner, and fituate in the large 

 fquare called the Burg, the halls, the mint, &c. At tiie 

 end of the fquare, called the grand market, is a fine lleeple, 

 ;^ F 2 fup- 



