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which severely visited Florence in 1348. Villani bears the 
character of one of the most polished writers of his age, and 
the most conversant in the history of his country. His 
History records, in twelve books, the events occurring in 
Florence from its foundation till the year of his death, and 
comprehends also the principal changes that happened in 
the other Italian provinces. The early part of this History 
abounds with errors and fables; but in describing the oc¬ 
currences of Tuscany in his own time, he is deemed a safe 
guide, allowing for his partiality to the Guelph interest, and 
for his unacknowledged extracts from the History of Ricor- 
dano Malaspini. This History, which has been always much 
esteemed, both for its matter and the elegance of its style, 
was first printed by the Giunti of Florence in 1537, and the 
latest of several editions of it was that of Milan, in the col¬ 
lection of Italian historians. It was continued after his death 
by his brother, Matteo Villani, who brought it down to 1363, 
in which year, whilst he was writing the 11th book, he was 
carried off by the plague. His History is not held in equal 
estimation with that of his brother, its style being too diffuse; 
but he was contemporary with the events which he relates. 
Tiraboschi. Gen. Biog. 
To VI'LLANIZE, v. a. To debase; to degrade ; to de¬ 
fame. 
Were virtue by descent, a noble name 
Could never villanize his father’s fame; 
But, as the first, the last of all the line. 
Would, like the sun, ev’n in descending shine. Dryden. 
VI'LLANIZER, s. One who degrades, debases, or de¬ 
fames.—Renouncers of God, blasphemers of his only-be¬ 
gotten Son, villanisers of his saints, and scorners of his 
service. Sir E. Sandys. 
V[LLANO, a cape in the north-west of Spain, on the 
coast of Galicia. Lat. 43. 11. N. long. 9. 14. W. 
VI'LLANOUS, adj. Base; vile; wicked.—There is no¬ 
thing but roguery to be found in villanous man. Shakspeare. 
_Sorry: in a familiar sense.—Thou art my son; 1 have 
partly thy mother’s word, partly my own opinion ; but 
chiefly a villainous trick of thine eye doth warrant me. 
SltaIcspearc. —It is used by Shakspeare to exaggerate any 
thing detestable. 
We shall lose our time. 
And all be turn’d to barnacles or apes. 
With foreheads villainous low. Shakspeare. 
VFLLANOUSLY, adv. Wickedly; basely.—The wan¬ 
dering Numidian falsified his faith, and villanously slew 
Selymes the king, as he was bathing himself. Knolles. 
VI'LLANOUSNESS, s. Baseness; wickedness. 
VILLANTERIO, a small inland town of Austrian Italy, 
in the government of Milan; 11 miles east-by-north of 
Pavia. 
VI'LLANY, s. [ villonie , old French. It is more usual to 
write villainy, and villainous ; though anciently the words 
wanted the second i. “ He never yet no vilanie ne sayde,” 
&c. Chaucer. ] Wickedness; baseness; depravity; gross 
atrociousness. 
Trust not those cunning waters of his eyes; 
For villainy is not without such rheum: 
And he, long traded in it, makes it seem 
Like rivers of remorse and innocence. Shakspeare. 
A wicked action ; a crime. In this sense it has a plural. 
Such villainies rous’d Horace into wrath; 
And ’tis more noble to pursue his path, 
Than an old tale. Dryden. 
VILLAR, a town of Spain, in Estremadura; 7 miles 
north of Plasencia. Population 2000. 
VILLARD, a town of Savoy, in the Tarantaise, on thq 
small river Doron; 6 miles east of Confians. 
VILLARD DE LANS, a town of France, department 
of the Isere; 12 miles south-west of Grenoble. Population 
2000. 
VILLARET (Claude de), was bora at Paris in 1715, and 
liberally educated. On the death of the abbe Velly in 1759, 
he was selected for continuing his History; and at the same 
time was made secretary to the peerage. His early impru¬ 
dence and his subsequent application to business terminated 
his life in 1766. His continuation of the “ Histoire de 
France” commences in the 8th volume, with the reign of 
Philip VI. and concludes in the 17th volume: it abounds 
with interesting remarks and curious anecdotes, but the 
reader is diverted from the main object by prolixity of detail 
in prefaces and digressions. The style however is elegant 
and animated, but too rhetorical for the simplicity of his¬ 
tory. 
VILLARIA [so named by Schreber, in honour of Mons. 
Villars, physician to the military hospital at Grenoble], in 
Botany, a genus of the class dioecia, order pentandria_ 
Generic Character. Male—-Calyx: perianth cne-leafed, five- 
parted, spreading, permanent; segments roundish, obtuse, 
concave, coriaceous, thinner at the edge, almost equal; two 
more interior. Corolla: petals five, oblong, obtuse, flat, 
spreading, coriaceous, thinner at the edge, twice as long as 
the calyx, permanent. Stamina: filaments five, awl-shaped, 
erect, smaller by half than the calyx; anthers roundish, twin. 
Pistil: germ orbicular, depressed; style very short; stigma 
capitate. Female—Calyx as in the male. Corolla as in the 
male. Nectary: leaflets five, ovate, obtuse, erect, alternate 
with the petals and shorter than them, permanent. Pistil: 
germ ovate-turbinate; style very short, scarcely any. Stigma 
capitate, subtrifid. Pericarp: berry subglobular, pointed 
with the permanent style, three-celled. Seeds solitary. 
VILLARS (Louis-Hector), duke of, and marshal of France, 
was born at Moulins, in Bourbonnois, in 1653, and com¬ 
menced a military life in his youth. He served in Holland 
in 1672, signalized his courage at the siege of Maestricht in 
1673, and was wounded at the battle of Senef in 1674. His 
gradations of advancement and displays of military talent are 
detailed in the article France. He expired in June 1734, 
in the eighty-first year of his age. “ Memoirs of the 
Marshal de Villars” were printed in Holland, in three vols. 
1734-36, the first of which alone was written by himself. 
A more interesting publication appeared in 1784, entitled 
“ La Vie du Marechal de Villars, ecrite par lui-meme, et 
donne au Public par M. Anquetil,” four vols. 12mo. This 
work contains the letters, recollections, and journal of the 
marshal, properly arranged by the editor. Moreri. 
VILLARS, a town of France, department of the Ain, on 
the river Chalaronne; 11 miles east-north-east of Trevcux. 
VILLARS FARLAY, a town of France, department of 
the Jura; 25 miles north-east of Lons le Saunier. 
VILLA'TIC, adj. Belonging to villages. 
The perched roosts, 
And nests in order rang’d. 
Of tame villatic fowl. Milton . 
VILLE, a town of France, in Alsace; 26 miles south¬ 
west of Strasburg. 
VILLE SUR AUJON, a town of France, department of 
the Upper Marne; 12 miles south-west of Chaumont. 
VILLE BRUNIER, a town of France, departmenf of 
the Tarn and Garonne; 12 miles south-east of Montauban. 
VILLE SUR ILLON, a town of France, department of 
the Vosges; 9 miles west of Epinal. 
VILLEDIEU, a town of France, department of the Loir 
and Cher; 20 miles west-south-west of Vendome. 
VILLEDIEU LES.POELES, a town of France, depart¬ 
ment of La Manche; 8 miles north-north-east of Avranches. 
It contains about 3000 inhabitants. 
VILLEFAGNAN, a small town.in the west of France, 
department, of the Charente; 6 miles west of Ruffec. Popu¬ 
lation 1700. 
VILLEFORT, a town of France, department of the 
Lozere, on the river Deveze; 20 miles north-east of Florae. 
VILLE-FRANCHE, or Villefranche sur Saone, a 
town of France, in the department of the Rhone; 18 miles 
north of Lyons. 
VILLEFRANCHE, 
