BRAUNSBERG

braunsberg, a town of germany, in the kingdom of prussia, 38 m. by rail s.w. of konigsberg, on the passarge, 4 m. from its mouth in the frisches haff. pop. (1900) 12,497. it possesses numerous roman catholic institutions, of which the most important is the lyceum hosianum (enjoying university rank), founded in 1564 by the cardinal bishop stanislaus hosius. brewing, tanning, and the manufactures of soap, yeast, carriages and bricks are the most important industries of the town, which also carries on a certain amount of trade in corn, ship timber and yarn. the river is navigable for small vessels. the castle of braunsberg was built by the teutonic knights in 1241, and the town was founded ten years later. destroyed by the prussians in 1262, it was restored in 1279. the town, which was the seat of the bishops of ermeland from 1255 to 1298, was granted the "law of lubeck" by its bishop in 1284, and admitted to the hanseatic league. after numerous vicissitudes it fell into the hands of the poles in 1520, and in 1626 it was captured by gustavus adolphus. the swedes kept possession till 1635. it fell to prussia by the first partition of poland in 1772. bravo (ital. for "brave"), the name for hired assassins such as were formerly common in italy. the word had at first no evil meaning, but was applied to the retainers of the great noble houses, or to the cavalier-type of swashbucklers familiar in fiction. in later italian history, especially in that of venice, the _bravi_ were desperate ruffians who for payment were ready to commit any crime, however foul. brawling (probably connected with ger. _brallen_, to roar, shout), in law, the offence of quarrelling, or creating a disturbance in a church or churchyard. during the early stages of the reformation in england religious controversy too often became converted into actual disturbance, and the ritual lawlessness of the parochial clergy very frequently provoked popular violence. to repress these disturbances an act was passed in 1551, by which it was enacted "that if any person shall, by words only, quarrel, chide or brawl in any church or churchyard, it shall be lawful for the ordinary of the place where the same shall be done and proved by two lawful witnesses, to suspend any person so offending, if he be a layman, from the entrance of the church, and if he be a clerk, from the ministration of his office, for so long as the said ordinary shall think meet, according to the fault." an act of 1553 added the punishment of imprisonment until the party should repent. the act of 1551 was partly repealed in 1828 and wholly repealed as regards laymen by the ecclesiastical courts jurisdiction act 1860. under that act, which applies to ireland as well as to england, persons guilty of riotous, violent or indecent behaviour, in churches and chapels of the church of england or ireland, or in any chapel of any religious denomination, or in england in any place of religious worship duly certified, or in churchyards or burial-grounds, are liable on conviction before two justices to a penalty of not more than l5, or imprisonment for any term not exceeding two months. this enactment applies to clergy as well as to laity, and a clergyman of the church of england convicted under it may also be dealt with under the clergy discipline act of 1892 (_girt v. fillingham_, 1901, l.r. prob. 176). when mr j. kensit during an ordination service in st paul's cathedral "objected" to one of the candidates for ordination, on grounds which did not constitute an impediment or notable crime within the meaning of the ordination service, he was held to have unlawfully disturbed the bishop of london in the conduct of the service, and to be liable to conviction under the act of 1860 (_kensit_ v. _dean and chapter of st paul's_, 1905, l.r. 2 k.b. 249). the public worship of protestant dissenters, roman catholics and jews in england had before 1860 been protected by a series of statutes beginning with the toleration act of 1689, and ending with the liberty of religious worship act 1855. these enactments, though not repealed, are for practical purposes superseded by the summary remedy given by the act of 1860. in scotland disturbance of public worship is punishable as a breach of the peace (_dougall_ v. _dykes_, 1861, 4 irvine 101). in british possessions abroad interference with religious worship is usually dealt with by legislation, and not as a common-law offence. in india it is an offence voluntarily to cause disturbance to any assembly lawfully engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies (penal code, s. 296). under the queensland criminal code of 1899 (s. 207) penalties are imposed on persons who wilfully and without lawful justification or excuse (the proof of which lies on them) disquiet or disturb any meeting of persons lawfully assembled for religious worship, or assault any forces lawfully officiating at such meeting, or any of the persons there assembled. in the united states disturbance of religious worship is treated as an offence under the common law, which is in many states supplemented by legislation (see bishop, _amer. crim. law_, 8th ed. 1892, vol. i. s. 542, vol. ii. ss. 303-305; california penal code, s. 302; _revised laws of massachusetts_, 1902, chap. 212, s. 30.).