BUR 



ftated on tlif fi.^e of a hill, whith flopts gently to the river 

 Larkf. Tilts placi.- obtained -ts prtft-nt naiiie and pri-cipal 

 importance fro n the relics of king Edmund, who bci.ig 

 barbannidy nuitdtred by the Danes at Hoxncin this county, 

 was proclaimed a royal mariyr, and his fhr-nr became an ob- 

 jeit of great veneration in the time of Britifli monachifm. 

 Though a monaUcry had been prtvioufly fuiindcd here by 

 Sigebert, king of the End Angles, yet it docs not appear 

 that this monarch's tllablifhincnt excited any notoriety, or 

 altratled many inliabitants. The abbey founded here in 

 honour of St. Ednniad, was raifed by Ayllwin, about the 

 year<;oj, but was afterwards augmented by additional en- 

 dowments, and enlarged in buildings. Nearly the whole 

 was, however, dcdroyed by Sweyn king of Denmark, whofe 

 fon Canute rebuilt the abbey, and rellored the town to its 

 former importance. Previous to this event, it appears that 

 the town was known by the name of Beodrichworth. Canute 

 offered up his crown at the flirine of St. Edmund, as did 

 many other Englilh kings, his fuccefTors. The church and 

 monaftery appear to have been rebuilt in the year )o:o, and 

 the former was confecrated on St. Luke's day, A.D. 1032, 

 by Agelnothus, archbifliop of Canterbury. From this 

 period it grew into great repute, and feveral monarchs, with 

 many eminent perfons, were defirous of being interred in this 

 holy place. During the profpenty of the abbey, it was 

 environed with a ftrong wall and ditch, and there was an 

 hofpital, or religious houfe, at every gate of the town. 

 Among thefe the abbey-gate, or entrance to the abbot's 

 palace, is the principal ftruCture remaining ; and this is an 

 interefting relic of architeftural antiquity. It was ercfled 

 in the reign of Richard II. about the year 1377, and at pre- 

 fent is in a good ftate of prcfervation. Its weftern front is 

 adorned with feveral niches and carvings in tabernacle work. 

 Sec. Another of thefe llruftures, called Church-gate, or 

 the portal, is remaining, and formerly led to the grand con- 

 ventual church. It now ferves as a tower to vSt. James's 

 church, and is fnpported on two femicircular arches, which 

 admit of a free jiaffage for carnages. 



The town of Bury St. Edmunds, with its fuburbs, extends 

 from north to fouth, about l| mile, and in breadth i^ mile. 

 It is divided into five wards, and contains 34 ftreets, which 

 are well paved, andinterfeft each other at nearly right angles. 

 While the abbey was ftanding, there were three churches 

 ■within its precinfts, befides the one belonging to the monaf- 

 tery. That dedicated to St. Margaret is now made ufe of, 

 with confiderable alterations, as the (hire-hall, where the 

 county aflizts are held. The two other churches " are 

 defervedly eftecmcd for t'leir exaft and beautiful fymmetry, 

 their large and elegant windows, neat pillars, and noble 

 roofs." In the church of St. Mary, it appears that Mary 

 Tudor, third daughter of Henry VII., and wife of 

 Lewis XII., king ot France, was interred. After the de- 

 ceafe of the latter monarch, flie married Charles Brandon, 

 duke of Suffolk, and died in his life time at Wefthorpe in this 

 county. 



Bury has, at different times, been the feat of the EngKfh 

 fovereign, and the place of affembling his parliamcr.ts. King 

 Edward I. and Edward II. had mints here; and Stow fays 

 that here was alfo a mint in king John's time. Among the 

 other public buildings and ellablilhments of the town, are 

 the guildhall, the wool-halls, the gaol, the bridewell, the 

 theatre, the market-crofs, the butchery, and new (hambles, 

 the fubfcription-rooms, the free grammar fchool, and four 

 meeting-houfes. 



Bury has the privilege of three annual fairs, one of which 

 ufually contir.ues for three wetks. Here are alfo two 



BUS 



weekly markets on WedneiHays and Saturdays. In l/^S. 

 the niiiiiher of inhabifai ts ni this town was 5,819, and in 

 iSoi, they appear to have increafed to 7,635. Thmiuh tha 

 pu'iulation has thus evidently greatly increafed, yet at fome 

 former periods ai.mv inhabitants have been fwept away by 

 the ph'ie. Sic. Mr. N''hols, in his Hillory of Leictilcr- 

 fhir' , ilat'S that icoo periods died of the plague in Bury in 

 1 257, and in 1638 upwards of 600 perfons died of this drcad- 

 fii' '"alamity. 



bury was firft privile'^ed to fend members to parl'ament 

 by king James 1. •■■ ho incorporated it in the fourth year of 

 his reign ; and by two other charters in the fixth and twelfth 

 years of his reign. The right of elettion is veiled in the 

 aldermen, burgefies, and common-councilmen, amounting to 

 37. Giliingwater's liillorical and Defcriptive Account 

 of St. Edmund's Bury, time. 1804. 



BURYING a/ive. was, among the Romans, the punifii- 

 ment of a vellal (fee Vestal), for the violation of her vow 

 of chafti'.y. After being tried and f?ntenccd by the ponti- 

 fices, this punifl'.meiU was inflicled and accompanied \^lthi 

 funeral folemnities in a place called the " Campus Scele- 

 ratus," near the Porta Coilina ; and her paramour was 

 fcourged to death in the Forum. Tne unhappy priellefs 

 was let down, on this occaiion, into a deep pit, with bread, 

 water, milk, oil, a lamp burning, and a bed on which to 

 lie ; but this was mere fliow, for the moment (he was at the 

 bottom, they began to call in the earth upon htr, till the pit 

 wasfillediip. Mem. Acad. Infer, t. iii. p. 27S. This mode 

 of punilhment is faid to have been firll devifed by Tarquinius 

 Prifcus. Dionyf. iii. 67. Lord Bacon mentions inllancei 

 of the refurreftion of lome perfons who had been buried 

 alive. Of this number was the famous Duns Scotu?. See 

 Duns. For the places and different modes of burying, fee 

 Burial. 



BURZANO, in Geography, a town of Naples, in the 

 province of Calabria Ultra; to miles E.N.E. of Bova. 



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

 Ardeche, and chief place of a canton in the dittrift of 

 I'Argentiere. The place contains 2670, and the canton- 

 4945, inhabitants; the territory comprehends no kilio- 

 mctres anti 4 communes. 



BUS, C.tSAR DE, in Biography, the founder of the 

 Fathers of the Chriftian doclrine, was born at Cavaillon in 

 1544, and after purfnirig, for fome time, a licentinus courfe, 

 became fenfible of his mifcondi.tt, entered into the church, 

 and was appointed canon of a cathedral. Adopting a 

 rigorous mode of living, and didingnidied by his zeal in in- 

 ftrufting the ignorant, and exhorting finners to repentance, 

 he formed a new inftitutioii for teaching the principles of the- 

 Chriftian religion. See Fathers of the ChnJUan doa/ine. 

 De Bus loll his fight fome years before his deatii, which 

 happened at Avignon in 1607. To him is alfo afcribed the 

 eftablilhment of the Ursulines in France. He publiflied 

 a let of " Familiar Inftruilions on the Chriftian Dodrine," 

 written in a fimple ftyle, and ftill read by pious perfons.. 

 Nouv. Dift. Hnl. Molheim. Ecclef. vol. iv. 



BUSANCY, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Aifne, and diftrict of Soiffons ; 4 miles 

 S. of Soiffons. 



BUSARD, in Ornithology. See Moor Buzz.ard. 



BUSBEC, or BoESBEc, Augher-Ghislen, in Latin 

 Bii/bequius, in Biography, a celebrated traveller and ambaf- 

 fador, was the natural Ion of GhiOcn, lord of Boefbec, a 

 village on the Lys, and born at Commines, in Flanders,' in 

 1522. Having been legitimated by a refcript of the empe- 

 ror Charles V., he purfued Li; ftudies with great diligence 

 ■3 and 



