The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 446

VETURIA, a Roman matron, the mother of Coriola.n.u.s.

VIA DOLOROSA, way leading from the Mount of Olives to Golgotha, which Christ traversed from the Agony in the Garden to the Cross.

VIATIc.u.m, name given to the Eucharist administered by a priest to a person on the point of death.

VICAR OF BRAY. See BRAY.

VICAR OF CHRIST, t.i.tle a.s.sumed by the Pope, who claims to be the Vicegerent of Christ on earth.

VICENZA (27), a town in the NE. of Italy, in a province of the name, bordering on the Tyrol, 42 m. W. of Venice; has fine palaces designed by Palladio, a native of the place; manufactures woollen and silk fabrics, and wooden wares; was a place of some importance under the Lombards.

VICHY, a fashionable watering-place in Central France, on the Allier, at the foot of the volcanic mountains of Auvergne; has hot alkaline springs, much resorted to for their medicinal virtues.

VICKSBURG (13), largest city on the Mississippi, on a bluff above the river, fortified by the Confederates in the Civil War; after a siege of over a year surrendered to General Grant, 4th July 1864, with 30,000 men.

VICO, GIOVANNI BATTISTA, Italian philosopher, born at Naples, where he was for 40 years professor of rhetoric; his great work "Scienza Nuova," by which he became the father of the philosophy of history, which he resolved Calvinistically into a spiritual development of the purpose of G.o.d (1668-1744).

VICTOR, CLAUDE PERRIN, marshal of France, served with distinction all through the wars of Napoleon, and held command, not to his honour, under the Bourbons after his fall (1764-1841).

VICTOR, ST., the name of two martyrs, one of Ma.r.s.eilles and one of Milan, distinguished for their zeal in overthrowing pagan altars.

VICTOR EMMANUEL II., king of Sardinia, and afterwards of united Italy, born in Turin, eldest son of Charles Albert; became king in 1849 on the abdication of his father; distinguished himself in the war against Austria, adding Austrian Lombardy and Tuscany to his dominions, and by the help of Garibaldi, Naples and Sicily, till in 1861 he was proclaimed King of Italy, and in 1870 he entered Rome as his capital city (1820-1878).

VICTORIA (1,140), a colony of Great Britain, the smallest and most populous in Australia, lying S. of New South Wales, from which it was separated in 1851; originally settled as Port Phillip in 1834, it developed gradually as a pastoral and agricultural region till, in 1851, the discovery of gold led to an enormous increase in both the population and the revenue, and the sudden rise of a community, with Melbourne for centre, which, for wealth and enterprise, eclipsed every other in the southern hemisphere of the globe; the wealth thus introduced led to a further development of its resources, and every industry began to flourish to a proportionate extent; the chief exports are wool, gold, live-stock, bread-stuffs, hides and leather, and the imports are no less manifold; the climate is remarkably healthy, and ice and snow are hardly known; there is no State religion; 75 per cent. of the people are Protestants, 22 per cent. Catholics, and per cent. Jews, and every provision is made for education in the shape of universities, State schools, technical schools and private schools, and the legislative authority is vested in a Parliament of two chambers, a Legislative Council of 48, and a Legislative a.s.sembly of 95.

VICTORIA, ALEXANDRINA, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, born at Kensington Palace, the only child of the Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III., who died in 1820, leaving her an infant eight months old; educated under the eye of her mother with special regard to her prospective destiny as Queen; proclaimed, on the death of William IV., on 20th June 1837; crowned at Westminster 28th June 1838; married Prince Albert 10th February 1840; in 1877 added "Empress of India" to her t.i.tles; during 1861 became a widow through the death of Prince Albert. Her reign was long and prosperous; 1887 being celebrated as her "Jubilee" year, and 1897 as her "Diamond Jubilee"; was the mother of four sons and five daughters; had grandchildren and great-grandchildren, William II., Emperor of Germany, being a grandchild, and Nicholas II., Czar of Russia, being married to another; _b_. 1819; died at Osborne, Isle of Wight, Jan. 22, 1901.

VICTORIA CROSS, a naval and military decoration in the shape of a Maltese cross, inst.i.tuted by Queen Victoria in 1856 for conspicuous bravery in the presence of an enemy.

VICTORIA NYANZA, a lake in East Central Africa, on the Equator, is about the size of Ireland, 300 m. long and 20 m. broad, at an elevation of 3500 ft. above the sea-level; discovered by Captain Speke in 1858, and circ.u.mnavigated by Stanley in 1875; is regarded as the head-source of the Nile, the waters of it flowing through Albert Nyanza 80 m. to the N., between which two lakes lies the territory of Uganda.

VIDAR, in the Scandinavian mythology the G.o.d of wisdom and silence, whose look penetrates the inmost thoughts of men.

VIENNA (1,364), the capital of the Austrian empire, on a southern branch of the Danube, in a situation calculated to make it the central city of the Continent; it is the residence of the emperor and the seat of the government; has n.o.ble buildings, a university, and numerous large libraries, a large promenade called the Prater, and a varied industry, and ample means of both external and internal communication; in the SW.

of it is Schonbrunn, the summer residence of the emperor, amid gardens of matchless beauty; it has been the scene of the signing of important treaties, and it was here the Congress met to undo the work of Napoleon in 1815.

VIENNE (22), an ancient town of France, on the Rhone, 19 m. S. of Lyons; was the chief town of the Allobroges in Caesar's time, and possesses relics of its connection with Rome; it manufactures silk and woollen fabrics, paper and iron goods, and has a trade in grain and wine.

VIGFUSSON, GUDBRAND, Scandinavian scholar, born in Iceland, of good family; well familiar with the folk-lore of his country from boyhood, and otherwise educated at home, he entered Copenhagen University in 1850, occupying himself with the study of his native literature, and of every doc.u.ment he could lay his hands on, and out of which he hoped to obtain any light; in 1855 he published a work on the chronology of the sagas, and this was followed by editions of the sagas themselves; after this he came to Oxford, where he produced an Icelandic-English Dictionary and other works in the same interest, and died and was buried there (1827-1889).

VIGNY, ALFRED, COMTE DE, French poet of the Romanticist school, born at Loches; entered the army, but left after a few years for a life of literary ease; produced a small volume of exquisitely finished poems between 1821 and 1829, and only another "Poemes Philosophiques," which were not published till after his death; wrote also romances and dramas, and translated into French "Oth.e.l.lo" and "Merchant of Venice"

(1798-1864).

VIGO (15), a seaport in Galicia, NW. of Spain, on a bay of the name; beautifully situated, and a favourite health resort.

VIKINGS (creekers), name given to the Scandinavian sea-rovers and pirates who from the 8th to the 10th centuries ravaged the sh.o.r.es chiefly of Western Europe.

VILLARI, Italian author, born at Naples; professor of History at Florence; has written the Lives of Savonarola and Macchiavelli; _b_.

1827.

VILLARS, DUC DE, marshal of France, born at Moulins; one of the most ill.u.s.trious of Louis XIV.'s generals, and distinguished in diplomacy as well as war; served in Germany under Turenne, and in the war of the Spanish Succession; suppressed the Camisards in the Cevennes, but was defeated by Marlborough at Malplaquet (1653-1734).

VILLENAGE, in feudal times the condition of a "villein," one of the lowest cla.s.s in a state of menial servitude.

VILLENEUVE, SILVESTRE, French admiral, born at Vilensoles, Ba.s.ses-Alpes; entered the navy at 15, became captain at 30; commanded the rear at the battle of the Nile; was placed in command at Toulon, steered his fleet to the West Indies to draw Nelson off the sh.o.r.es of France, but was chased back by Nelson and blockaded in Cadiz to the defeat of Napoleon's scheme for invading England, but felt constrained to risk a battle with the English admiral, which he did to his ruin at Trafalgar (1763-1806).

VILLEROI, DUC DE, marshal of France; was a courtier but no soldier, being defeated in Italy by Prince Eugene and at Ramillies by Marlborough; was guardian to Louis XV. (1644-1730).

VILLIERS, CHARLES PELHAM, reformer, brother of the Earl of Clarendon; bred to the bar; entered Parliament; M.P. for Wolverhampton, which he represented to the end; was an advocate from the first, and one of the st.u.r.diest, for free trade and poor-law reform, and had a marble statue raised in his honour at Wolverhampton before his death (1802-1898).

VILLON, FRANcOIS, French poet, born in Paris; studied at the university, but led a singular life; had again and again to flee from Paris; was once condemned to death, but set free after a four years'

imprisonment into which the sentence was commuted; is the author of two poems, ent.i.tled the "Pet.i.t Testament" and the "Grand Testament," with minor pieces bearing on the swindling tricks of Villon, the name he a.s.sumed, and his companions (1431-1485).

VINCENNES (24), an eastern suburb of Paris, in the famous Bois de Vincennes, which contains a large artillery park and training place for troops; it is a favourite resort for Parisians of the middle cla.s.s.

VINCENT, ST., a Spanish martyr who in 304 was tortured to death; is represented with the instruments of his torture, a spiked gridiron for one, and a raven beside him such as drove away the beasts and birds of prey from his dead body.