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beautiful. The death of her noble father, Folco Portinari, in 1289, is said to have hastened her own. The history of Beatrice may be considered as an affection of Dante-in that lies its sole interest. All that can be authenticated of her is that she was a beautiful and virtuous woman. She died in 1290, aged twenty-four. And yet she still lives in Dante's immortal poem, of which her memory was the inspiration. He says, in the conclusion of his Rime, (his miscellaneous poems on the subject of his early love)-"I beheld a marvellous vision, which has caused me to cease from writing in praise of my blessed Beatrice, until I can celebrate her more worthily; which that I may do, I devote my whole soul to study, as she knoweth well; in so much, that if it please the Great Disposer of all events to prolong my life for a few years upon this earth, I hope hereafter to sing of my Beatrice what never yet was said or sung of any woman."

It was in this transport of enthusiasm that Dante conceived the idea of the "Divina Commedia," his great poem, of which his Beatrice was destined to be the heroine. Thus to the inspiration of a young, lovely, and noble-minded woman, we owe one of the grandest efforts of human genius.

BEAUFORT,

husband, and hastened to Roxburgh, where he then was, to warn him of his danger. The king immediately took refuge with his wife in the Dominican abbey near Perth; but the conspirators, having bribed a domestic, found their way into the room. The queen threw herself between them and her husband, but in vain; after receiving two wounds, she was torn from the arms of James I., who was murdered, Feb. 21st, 1437.

Joan married a second time, James Stewart, called the Black Knight, son to the lord of Lorne, to whom she bore a son, afterwards earl of Athol. She died in 1446, and was buried at Perth, near the body of the king, her first husband.

BEAUFORT,

MARGARET, Countess of Richmond and Derby, was the only daughter and heiress of John Beaufort, duke of Somerset (grandson to John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster), by Margaret Beauchamp, his wife. She was born at Bletshoe in Bedfordshire, in 1441. While very young she was married to Edmund Tudor, earl of Richmond, by whom she had a son named Henry, who was afterwards king of England, by the title of Henry VII. On the 3d of November, 1456, the earl of Richmond died, leaving Margaret a very young widow, and his son, and heir, Henry, not above fifteen weeks old. Her second husband was Sir Henry Stafford, knight, second son to the duke of Buckingham, by whom she had no issue. And soon after the death of Sir Henry Stafford, which happened about 1482, she married Thomas, lord Stanley, afterwards earl of Derby, who died in 1504. After spending a life in successive acts of beneficence, she paid the great debt of nature on the 29th of June, 1509, in the first year of the reign of her grandson Henry VIII. She was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a monument was erected to her memory. It is of black marble, with her effigy in gilt copper; and the head is encircled with a coronet. She founded and endowed the colleges of Christ and St. John's, at Cambridge.

BELLEVILLE,

JANE DE, wife of Oliver III., lord of Clisson. Philip de Valois, king of France, having caused her husband to be beheaded, in 1343, on unau

JOAN, queen of Scotland, was the eldest daugh-thenticated suspicion of correspondence with Engter of John Beaufort, earl of Somerset, (son of John of Gaunt,) and of Margaret, daughter of the earl of Kent.

She was seen by James, sometimes called the Royal Poet, son of Robert III., king of Scotland, while he was detained a prisoner in the Tower of London, and he fell passionately in love with her. On his release, in 1423, after nineteen years' captivity, he married Joan, and went with her to Edinburgh, where they were crowned, May 22d, 1424. In 1430, Joan became the mother of James, afterwards James II. of Scotland.

She possessed a great deal of influence, which she always exercised on the side of mercy and gentleness. In 1437, the queen received information of a conspiracy formed against the life of her

land, Jane sent her son, a boy of twelve, secretly to London, for safety, sold her jewels, armed three vessels, and attacked all the French she met. She made descents in Normandy, took their castles, and the most beautiful woman in Europe might be seen, with a sword in one hand, and a flambeau in the other, enforcing and commanding acts of the greatest cruelty.

BERENGARIA

OF Navarre, was daughter of Sancho the Wise, king of Naples, and married Richard Coeur de Lion soon after he ascended the throne of England. Richard had been betrothed, when only seven years of age, to Alice, daughter of Louis VII., who was three years old. Alice was sent to the English

court, when a girl of thirteen, for her education. | promise of recalling her when the tumult should be appeased. Some historians assert that Berenice returned and was again banished.

The father of Richard Cœur de Lion, Henry II., fell in love with this betrothed of his son; and had prevented the marriage from being solemnized. But Richard, after he ascended the throne, was still trammelled by this engagement to Alice, while he was deeply in love with Berengaria. At length these obstacles were overcome. was in the joyous month of May, 1191," to quote an old writer, "in the flourishing and spacious isle of Cyprus, celebrated as the very abode of the goddess of love, did king Richard solemnly take to wife his beloved lady Berengaria."

"It

This fair queen accompanied her husband on his warlike expedition to the Holy Land. In the autumn of the same year Richard concluded his peace with Saladin, and set out on his return to England. But he sent Berengaria by sea, while he, disguised as a Templar, intended to go by land. He was taken prisoner, and kept in durance, by Leopold of Austria, nearly five years. Richard's profligate companions seem to have estranged his thoughts from his gentle, loving wife, and for nearly two years after his return from captivity, he gave himself up to the indulgence of his baser passions; but finally his conscience was awakened, he sought his ever-faithful wife, and she, woman-like, forgave him. From that time they were never parted, till his death, which occurred in 1199. She survived him many years, founded an abbey at Espan, and devoted herself to works of piety and mercy. "From her early youth to her grave, Berengaria manifested devoted love to Richard: uncomplainingly when deserted by him, forgiving when he returned, and faithful to his memory unto death," says her accomplished biographer, Miss Strickland.

BERENICE,

DAUGHTER of Herod Agrippa I., King of Judea, grandson of Herod the Great, was the sister of Herod Agrippa II., before whom Paul preached, and married her uncle, Herod, king of Chalcis. After her husband's death, she was accused of incest with her brother Agrippa; an accusation which seems to have determined her to engage in a second marriage. She signified to Polemon, king of Cilicia, her willingness to become his wife, if he would embrace Judaism. Polemon, induced by her wealth, consented; but Berenice soon deserted him, and he returned to his former faith.

Scrupulous in all religious observances, she made a journey to Jerusalem, where she spent thirty days in fasting and prayer. While thus engaged, she suffered a thousand indignities from the Roman soldiers. She also went barefoot to the Roman governor to intercede for her people, but he treated her with open neglect.

Berenice then resolved to apply to Vespasian, emperor of Rome, or his son Titus, to avoid being involved in the ruin of her nation. She accordingly went, with her brother, to Rome, and soon gained Vespasian by her liberality, and Titus by her beauty. Titus even wished to marry her; but the murmurs of the Roman people prevented him; he was even obliged to banish her, with a

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She is mentioned in the 25th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, as coming with her brother Agrippa to Cesarea, to salute Festus.

BERNERS, or BARNES,

JULIANA, a sister of Richard, lord Berners, is supposed to have been born about 1388, and was a native of Essex. She was prioress of Sopewell nunnery, and wrote "The Boke of Hawkyng and Huntyng," which was one of the first works that issued from the English press. She is represented as having been beautiful, high-spirited, and fond of all active exercises. She lived to an advanced age, and was highly respected and admired. The indelicacies that are found in her book, must be imputed to the barbarism of the times.

BERSALA,

ANN, daughter and principal heiress of Wolfard de Borselle, and of Charlotte de Bourbon-Montpensier, who were married June the 17th, 1468, was wife of Philip of Burgundy, son of Anthony of Burgundy, lord of Bevres, one of the illegitimate sons of the duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good. She brought to him, for her dowry, the lordship of Vere, that of Flushing, and some others, and had by him one son and two daughters. Erasmus had a particular esteem for her. He thus writes to a friend ::-"We came to Anne, princess of Vere. Why should I say any thing to you of this lady's complaisance, benignity, or liberality? I know the embellishments of rhetoricians are suspected, especially by those who are not unskilled in those arts. But, believe me, I am so far here from enlarging, that it is above the reach of our art. Never did nature produce any thing more modest, more wise, or more obliging. She was so generous to me- - she loaded me with so many benefits, without my seeking them! It has happened to me, my Battus, with regard to her, as it often used to happen with regard to you, that I begin to love and admire most when I am absent. Good God, what candour, what complaisance in the largest fortune, what evenness of mind in the greatest injuries, what cheerfulness in such great cares, what constancy of mind, what innocence of life, what encouragement of learned men, what affability to all!"

BERTHA,

DAUGHTER of Cherebert, king of Paris. She married Ethelbert, king of Kent, who succeeded to the throne about the year 560. Ethelbert was a pagan, but Bertha was a Christian, and in the marriage treaty had stipulated for the free exercise of her religion, and taken with her a French bishop. By her influence Christianity was introduced into England; for so exemplary in every respect were her life and conduct, that she inspired the king and his court with a high respect for her person, and the religion by which she was influenced. The Pope taking advantage of this, sent forty monks, among whom was St. Augustine, to

preach the gospel. Under the protection of the queen they soon found means of communication with the king, who finally submitted to public baptism. Christianity proved the means of promoting knowledge and civilization in England; and this convert king enacted a body of laws which was the first written code promulgated by the northern conquerors. Thus was the influence of this pious queen Bertha the means of redeeming England from paganism; and moreover to her belongs the glory of planting the first Christian Church in Canterbury.

BERTHA, or BERTRADE,

WIFE of Pepin and mother of Charlemagne, emperor of France, was a woman of great natural excellencies, both of mind and heart. Charlemagne always showed her most profound respect and veneration, and there was never the slightest difficulty between them, excepting when he divorced the daughter of Didier, king of the Lombards, whom he had married by her advice, to espouse Emergarde. Bertha died in 783.

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BERTHA,

WIDOW of Eudes, count de Blois, married Robert the Pious, king of France. She was a relation of his, and he had been godfather to one of her children. These obstacles, then very powerful, did not prevent the king from marrying her. A council assembled at Rome in 998, and ordered Robert to repudiate Bertha, which he refusing to do, the terrible sentence of excommunication was pronounced against him, and he was at length obliged to yield. Bertha retired to an abbey and devoted herself to pious works. Her title of queen was always given to her, and the king continued to show her constant proofs of affection and respect.

BERTRADE,

DAUGHTER of the count of Montfort, married the count of Anjou, from whom she was divorced to unite herself to Philip I., king of France, 1092. This union was opposed by the clergy, but the love of the monarch triumphed over his respect for religion. Bertrade was ambitious, and not always faithful to her husband. After the king's death, she pretended sanctity, and was buried in a convent which she herself founded.

BIGNE,

GRACE DE LA, a French poetess of Bayeux, accompanied king John to England, after the battle of Poictiers, and died in 1374.

BLANCHE

Or Castile, queen of France, was the daughter of Alphonso IX., king of Castile, and of Eleanor, daughter of Henry I. of England. In 1200, she was married to Louis VIII. of France; and became the mother of nine sons and two daughters, whom she educated with great care, and in such sentiments of piety, that two of them, Louis IX. and Elizabeth, have been beatified by the church of Rome.

On the death of her husband, in 1266, he showed

his esteem for her by leaving her sole regent during the minority of his son, Louis IX., then only twelve years old; and Blanche justified by her conduct in the trying circumstances in which she was placed, the confidence of her husband. The princes and nobles, pretending that the regency was unjustly granted to a woman, confederated against her; but by her prudence and courage, opposing some in arms, and gaining over others with presents and condescension, Blanche finally triumphed. She made use of the romantic passion of the young count of Champagne to obtain information of the projects of the malcontents; but her reputation was endangered by the favour she showed him, as well as by the familiar intercourse to which she admitted the gallant cardinal Romani.

In educating Louis, she was charged with putting him too much in the hands of the clergy; but she proved an excellent guardian of his virtue, and inspired him with a lasting respect for herself. In 1234, she married him to Margaret, daughter of the count de Provence; and in 1235, Louis having reached the age of twenty-one, Blanche surrendered to him the sovereign authority. But even after this she retained great ascendency over the young king, of which she sometimes made an improper use. Becoming jealous of Margaret, wife of Louis, she endeavoured to sow dissensions between them, and, failing in this, to separate them; and these disturbances caused Louis great uneasiness.

When, in 1248, Louis undertook a crusade to the Holy Land, he determined to take his queen with him, and leave his mother regent; and in this second regency she showed the same vigour and prudence as in the first. The kingdom was suffering so much from the domination of the priesthood, that vigorous measures had become necessary; and notwithstanding her strong religious feelings, she exerted her utmost power against the tyranny of the priests and in favour of the people; and as usual, Blanche was successful.

The unfortunate defeat and imprisonment of her son in the East, so affected her spirits, that she

died, in 1252, to his great grief, and the regret | hare, which she had kept concealed about her of the whole kingdom. She was buried in the person, to escape among the crowd. The Britons, abbey of Maubisson. She was one of the most exulting, hailed the omen, and the public indignaillustrious characters of her time, being equally tion was such, that all the island, excepting Londistinguished for her personal and mental endow-don, agreed to rise in rebellion. ments.

We may observe here that among the sovereigns of France, those most beloved by the people, and who thought most of the good of their subjects — Louis IX., Louis XII., and Henry IV.-were educated by their mothers. Blanche had attended in so careful a manner to the infancy and childhood of her son, that she performed for him many of the offices usually entrusted to inferiors. His attachment to her was ardent, and all her precepts were laws. She said to him one day, as she was tenderly caressing him, "My son, you know how very fondly I love you; and yet I would rather see you dead than sullied by the commission of a erime." Such a woman was worthy of Shakspeare's panegyric, which he has so warmly bestowed on Blanche in his "King John."

BLANCHE,

A NATIVE of Padua, was celebrated for her resolution. On the death of her husband, at the siege of Bassano, Acciolin, the general of the enemy, offered violence to her person, when she threw herself into her husband's tomb, and was crushed by the falling of the stone that covered the entrance, 1253

BLANCHE DE BOURBON, SECOND daughter of Pierre de Bourbon, a nobleman of France, married Pedro, king of Castile, in 1352. She was cruelly treated by her husband, who was attached to Maria Padilla, and was at last imprisoned and murdered, in 1361, aged eighteen. Her misfortunes were avenged by Du Guesclin at the head of a French army. Her beauty and virtues made her a great favourite, not only with the mother of Pedro, but the whole Spanish nation.

BOADICEA,

A BRITISH queen in the time of Nero, wife to Prasutagas, king of the Iceni, that is, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdonshire. Prasutagas, in order to secure the friendship and protection of Nero to his wife and family, left the emperor and his daughters co-heirs. The Roman officers, availing themselves of a privilege so replete with mischief, seized upon all his effects in their master's name. Boadicea strongly remonstrated against these unjust proceedings, and being a woman of high spirit, she resented her ill usage in such terms, that the officers, in revenge, caused her to be publicly scourged, and violated her daughters. Boadicea assembled the Britons, and standing on a rising ground, her loose robes and long fair hair floating in the wind, a spear in her hand, her majestic features animated with a desire for vengeance, she reminded her people, in a strain of pathetic eloquence, of the wrongs they had endured from the invaders, and exhorted them to instant revolt. While speaking, she permitted a

Boadicea put herself at the head of the popular army, and earnestly exhorted them to take advantage of the absence of the Roman general, Paulinus, then in the Isle of Man, by putting their foreign oppressors to the sword. The Britons readily embraced the proposal, and so violent was the rage of the exasperated people, that not a single Roman of any age or either sex, within their reach, escaped; no less than seventy thousand perished. Paulinus, suddenly returning, marched against the revolted Britons, who had an army of one hundred thousand, or, according to Dion Cassius, two hundred and thirty thousand strong, under the conduct of Boadicea and her general, Venutius. The noble person of Boadicea, large, fair, and dignified, with her undaunted courage, had gained for her the entire confidence of the people, and they were impatient for the engagement with Paulinus, whose army consisted of only ten thousand men. The Roman general was in doubt whether he should march with this small force against his numerous enemies, or shut himself up in the town and wait for them. At first he chose the latter, and stayed in London, but soon altered his resolution, and determined to meet the Britons in the open field. The place he pitched upon for the decisive battle was a narrow tract of ground, facing a large plain, supposed to be Salisbury plain, and his rear was secured by a forest. Britons, exulting in their numbers, and secure of victory, had brought their wives and children in wagons, and placed them around their entrenchments. Boadicea in her chariot, accompanied by her two daughters, rode among the several squadrons of her army, addressing them to the following effect: "It will not be the first time, Britons, that you have been victorious under the conduct of your queen. For my part, I come not here as one descended of royal blood, not to fight for empire or riches, but as one of the common people, to avenge the loss of their liberty, the wrongs of myself and children. The wickedness of the Romans is at its height, and the gods have already begun to punish them, so that instead of being able to withstand the attack of a victorious army, the very shouts of so many thousands will put them to flight. And, if you, Britons, would but consider the number of our forces, or the motives of the war, you will resolve to conquer or to die. Is it not much better to fall honourably in defence of liberty, than be again exposed to the outrages of the Romans? Such, at least, is my resolution; as for you men, you may, if you please, live and be slaves!"

The

Paulinus was no less assiduous in preparing his troops for the encounter. The Britons expected his soldiers to be daunted at their number; but when they saw them advance, sword in hand, without showing the least fear, they fell into disorder, and precipitately fled: the baggage and wagons in which their families were placed, ob

structing their flight, a total defeat and dreadful | ral enemies of her family. She died at Ferrara, carnage ensued. Eighty thousand Britons were in 1523. In the Ambrosian Library there is a left on the field. Boadicea escaped falling into collection of letters written by her, and a poetical the hands of the enemy, but, unable to survive effusion. A curiosity which might be viewed with this terrible disappointment, she fell a victim equal interest, is to be found there-a tress of her either to despair or poison. The battle was fought beautiful hair, folded in a piece of parchment. in the year 61

BORGIA,

LUCREZIA, sister of Cesare Borgia, and daughter of Rodriguez Borgia, afterwards Pope Alexander V., was married in 1493, to Giovanni Sforza, lord of Pessaro, with whom she lived four years, when her father being pope, dissolved the marriage, and gave her to Alfonso, duke of Bisceglia, natural son of Alfonso II., duke of Naples. On this occasion she was created duchess of Spoleto and of Sermoneta. She had one son by Alfonso, who died young. In June, 1500, Alfonso was stabbed by assassins, supposed to have been employed by the infamous Cesare Borgia, so that he died two months after at the pontifical palace, to which he had been carried at the time. Lucrezia has never been accused of any participation in this murder, or in any of her brother's atrocious deeds. She then retired to Nepi, but was recalled to Rome by her father. Towards the end of 1501, she married Alfonso d'Este, son of Ercole, duke of Ferrara, and made her entrance into Ferrara with great pomp, on the second of February, 1502.

She had three sons by Alfonso, who intrusted her with the government when he was absent in the field, in which capacity she gained general approbation. She was also the patroness of literature, and her behaviour after she became duchess of Ferrara affords no grounds for censure. Her conduct while living at Rome with her father has been the subject of much obloquy, which seems to rest chiefly on her living in a flagitious court among profligate scenes. No individual charge can be substantiated against her. On the contrary, she is mentioned by cotemporary poets and historians in the highest terms; and so many different writers would not have lavished such high praise on a person profligate and base as she has been represented. Many of the reports about her were circulated by the Neapolitans, the natu

BORE, or BORA,

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CATHARINE VON, daughter of a gentleman of fortune, was a nun in the convent of Nimptschen, in Germany, two leagues from Wittemberg. She left the convent, with eight others, at the commencement of the reformation by Luther. Leonard Koppe, senator of Torgau, is said to have first animated them to this resolution, which they put in practice on a Good Friday. Luther undertook the defence of these nuns and Leonard Koppe, and published a justification of their conduct.

Luther, who admired Catharine on account of her heroism, in addition to her excellent qualities of mind and heart, gained her consent and married her. Catharine was then twenty-six, and added to the charms of youth, much sprightliness of mind. The reformer, many years older than his wife, was as affectionately beloved by her as if he had been in the flower of his youth. She brought him a son; and he writes on this occasion, "that he would not change his condition for that of Croesus." The character of his wife was excellently adapted to make him happy. Modest and gentle, decent in her attire, and economical in the house, she had the hospitality of the German noblesse without their pride. On the 15th February, 1546, she became a widow, and although several fair offers were made to her, she lived for many years in great poverty, and sometimes in actual distress; Martin Luther left little or no property, and she was compelled to keep a boarding-house for students, in order to support herself and children. She died on the 20th of December, 1552, in consequence of a cold she had contracted from a fall in the water, while moving from Wittemberg to Torgau.

She left three sons, Paul, Martin, and John, and two daughters.

BRAGELONGNE,

AGNES DE, a French poetess, lived in the 12th century, in the reign of Philip Augustus. She was the daughter of the count de Tonnerre, and was married when very young to the count de Plancy, and after his death, to Henri de Craon, whom she had long loved, and to whom much of her poetry is addressed. The poem of "Gabrielle de Vergy," which is only a romance versified, is attributed to this writer.

BRIDGET, or BRIGIT,

AND by contraction, ST. BRIDE, a saint of the Romish church, and the patroness of Ireland, lived in the end of the fifth century. She was born at Fochard, in Ulster, soon after Ireland was converted, and she took the veil in her youth from the hands of St. Mel, a nephew and disciple of St. Patrick. She built herself a cell under a large oak, thence called Kill-dare, or the cell of the oak,

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