MAULE

maule, a coast province of central chile, bounded n. by talea, e. by linares and nuble, and s. by concepcion, and lying between the rivers maule and itata, which form its northern and southern boundaries. pop. (1895), 119,791; area, 2475 sq. m. maule is traversed from north to south by the coast range and its surfaces are much broken. the buchupureo river flows westward across the province. the climate is mild and healthy. agriculture and stock-raising are the principal occupations, and hides, cattle, wheat and timber are exported. transport facilities are afforded by the maule and the itata, which are navigable, and by a branch of the government railway from cauquenes to parral, an important town of southern linares. the provincial capital, cauquenes (pop., in 1895, 8574; 1902 estimate, 9895), is centrally situated on the buchupureo river, on the eastern slopes of the coast cordilleras. the town and port of constitucion (pop., in 1900, about 7000) on the south bank of the maule, one mile above its mouth, was formerly the capital of the province. the port suffers from a dangerous bar at the mouth of the river, but is connected with talca by rail and has a considerable trade. the maule river, from which the province takes its name, is of historic interest because it is said to have marked the southern limits of the inca empire. it rises in the laguna del maule, an andean lake near the argentine frontier, 7218 ft. above sea-level, and flows westward about 140 m. to the pacific, into which it discharges in 35° 18 s. the upper part of its drainage basin, to which the _anuario hydrografico_ gives an area of 8000 sq. m., contains the volcanoes of san pedro (11,800 ft.), the descabezado (12,795 ft.), and others of the same group of lower elevations. the upper course and tributaries of the maule, principally in the province of linares, are largely used for irrigation. mauleon, savari de (d. 1236), french soldier, was the son of raoul de mauleon, vicomte de thouars and lord of mauleon (now chatillon-sur-sevre). having espoused the cause of arthur of brittany, he was captured at mirebeau (1202), and imprisoned in the chateau of corfe. but john set him at liberty in 1204, gained him to his side and named him seneschal of poitou (1205). in 1211 savari de mauleon assisted raymond vi. count of toulouse, and with him besieged simon de montfort in castelnaudary. philip augustus bought his services in 1212 and gave him command of a fleet which was destroyed in the flemish port of damme. then mauleon returned to john, whom he aided in his struggle with the barons in 1215. he was one of those whom john designated on his deathbed for a council of regency (1216). then he went to egypt (1219), and was present at the taking of damietta. returning to poitou he was a second time seneschal for the king of england. he defended saintonge against louis viii. in 1224, but was accused of having given la rochelle up to the king of france, and the suspicions of the english again threw him back upon the french. louis viii. then turned over to him the defence of la rochelle and the coast of saintonge. in 1227 he took part in the rising of the barons of poitiers and anjou against the young louis ix. he enjoyed a certain reputation for his poems in the _langue d'oc_. see chilhaud-dumaine, "savari de mauleon," in _positions des theses des eleves de l'ecole des chartes_ (1877); _histoire litteraire de la france_, xviii. 671-682.