42 GEOGRAPHY. 



The Christians still possessed a few fortified towns in Palestine and the 

 coast of Syria, namely, Antioch, Tripolis, and Ptolemais. In May, 1291, 

 the latter, and the most important, fell into the hands of the Sultan of 

 Egypt, after which the remainder either surrendered peaceably, or were 

 captured. 



Geography of Modern Times (Plate 13). 



Plate 13 represents Europe before the French Revolution (1789). The 

 political arrangement of Europe in the above-mentioned year, differed 

 essentially from that which prevails at the present day. 



Germany, with Joseph 11. for it's head, consisted at that time of more than 

 three hundred greater and smaller states, most of which were distributed in 

 the ten circles of Maximilian I. Six of these were defined by this emperor 

 in 1500, at the imperial diet of Augsburg, namely, those of Franconia, 

 Bavaria, Swabia, the Upper Rhine, Westphalia, and Saxony ; the remaining 

 four were added at the diet of Cologne, in 1512, viz. those of Austria, Bur- 

 gundy, the Lower Rhine, and Upper Saxony : this arrangement was 

 confirmed at the diet of Worms and Niirnberg, in 1521 and 1522. The 

 distribution into circles was, however, very incomplete, owing to its not 

 including all the positions in the empire. The components of the individual 

 cii'cles were as follows : 



I. The Austrian Circle, the largest of all, had only the following 

 nobilit}^ : the Archduke of Austria (who, for centuries, was both Roman 

 emperor and king of Germany), the Bishops of Trent and Brixen, 

 the German Orders and the Princes of Dietrichstein. Its constituents 

 were : 



1. The Grand-Duchy of Austria, called also Lower Austria, and in old 

 decrees the Niederland, consisting of two portions, one with Vienna, the 

 other with Linz, as the chief towns. 



2. Inner Austria, consisting of the Duchies of Steiermark or Styria, 

 Carinthia, and Carniola (capitals Gratz, Klagenfurt, and Laibach) ; of 

 Austrian Istria (Mitterburg and Capo d'Istria) ; of Austrian Friaul (Gradisca, 

 Gorz, Tolmein) ; and of the coast (Aquileia and Triest). 



3. Upper Austria, or the county of Tyrol (capital Innsbruck), with 

 Montfort, Bregenz, Bludenz, and Sonneberg. 



4. Further Austria, consisting of the Austrian Breisg.au (capital, Freiburg), 

 and Swabian Austria (Burgau, Nellenburg, Altorf and Ravensburg, 

 Hohenberg ; five towns on the Danube, Munderkingen, Waldsee, Sulgau, 

 Riedlingen, and Mengen, several Monasteries, and the towns of Constance, 

 Zell, Chingen, &c). 



5 and 6. Bishoprics of Trient and Brixen. 



7. Two Commanderies of the German Order. 



8. Trasp in Tyrol belonging to the Prince Von Dietrichstein. 



II. The BuRGUNDiAN Circle embraced the Austrian Netherland with the 

 capital Brussels. The subdivisions were: 

 d2 



