BRIEG

brieg, often now spelt brig (fr. _brigue_, ital. _briga_), a picturesque small town in the swiss canton of the valais, situated at the foot of the northern slope of the simplon pass, on the right bank of the saltine stream, and a little above its junction with the rhone. its older houses are very italian in appearance, while its most prominent buildings (castle, former jesuits' college and ursuline convent) all date from the 17th century, and are due to the generosity of a single member of the local stockalper family. the prosperity of brieg is bound up with the simplon pass (_q.v._), so that it gradually supplanted the more ancient village of naters opposite, becoming a separate parish (the church is at glis, a few minutes from the town) in 1517. its medieval name was _briga dives_. the opening of the carriage road across the simplon (1807) and of the tunnel beneath the pass (1906), as well as the fact that above brieg is the steeper and less fertile portion of the upper valais (now much frequented by tourists), have greatly increased the importance and size of the town. the opening of the railway tunnel beneath the lotschen pass, affording direct communication with bern and the bernese oberland, is calculated still further to contribute to its prosperity. the new town extends below the old one and is closer to the right bank of the rhone. in 1900 the population was 2182, almost all romanists, while 1316 were german-speaking, 719 italian-speaking (the simplon tunnel workmen), and 142 french-speaking, one person only speaking romonsch. (w. a. b. c.) brielle (_briel_ or _bril_), a seaport in the province of south holland, holland, on the north side of the island of voorne, at the mouth of the new maas, 51⁄2 m. n. of hellevoetsluis. pop. (1900) 4107. it is a fortified place and has a good harbour, arsenal, magazine and barracks. it also possesses a quaint town hall, and an orphanage dating from 1533. the tower of the groote [v.04 p.0562] kerk of st catherine serves as a lighthouse. most of the trade of brielle was diverted to hellevoetsluis by the cutting of the voornsche canal in 1829, but it still has some business in corn and fodder, as well as a few factories. a large number of the inhabitants are also engaged in the fisheries and as pilots. the chief event in the history of brielle is its capture by the _gueux sur mer_, a squadron of privateers which raided the dutch coast under commission of the prince of orange. this event, which took place on the 1st of april 1572, was the first blow in the long war of dutch independence, and was followed by a general outbreak of the patriotic party (motley, _rise of the dutch republic_, part iii. chapter vi.). "the brill" was one of the four dutch towns handed over to queen elizabeth in 1584 as security for english expenses incurred in aiding the dutch. brielle is the birthplace of the famous admiral martin van tromp, and also of admiral van almonde, a distinguished commander of the early 18th century. brienne-le-chateau, a town of north-eastern france, in the department of aube, 1 m. from the right bank of the aube and 26 m. n.e. of troyes on the eastern railway. pop. (1906) 1761. the chateau, which overlooks the town, is an imposing building of the latter half of the 18th century, built by the cardinal de brienne (see below). it possesses an important collection of pictures, many of them historical portraits of the 17th and 18th centuries. the church dates from the 16th century and contains good stained glass. a statue of napoleon commemorates his sojourn at brienne from 1779 to 1784, when he was studying at the military school suppressed in 1790. in 1814 brienne was the scene of fighting between napoleon and the allies (see napoleonic campaigns). brewing is carried on in the town. brienne-la-vieille, a village 11⁄2 m. south of brienne-le-chateau, has a church of the 12th and 16th centuries with fine stained windows. the portal once belonged to the ancient abbey of bassefontaine, the ruins of which are situated near the village. _counts of brienne._--under the carolingian dynasty brienne-le-chateau was the capital town of a french countship. in the 10th century it was captured by two adventurers named engelbert and gobert, and from the first of these sprang the noble house of brienne. in 1210 john of brienne (1148-1237) became king of jerusalem, through his marriage with mary of montsserrat, heiress of the kingdom of jerusalem. he led a crusade in egypt which had no lasting success; and when in 1229 he was elected emperor of the east, for the period of baldwin ii.'s minority, he fought and conquered the greek emperor john iii. (batatzes or vatatzes). walter v., count of brienne and of lecce (apulia) and duke of athens, fought against the greeks and at first drove them from thessaly, but was eventually defeated and killed near lake copais in 1311. his son, walter vi., after having vainly attempted to reconquer athens in 1331, served under philip of valois against the english. having defended florence against the pisans he succeeded in obtaining dictatorial powers for himself in the republic; but his tyrannical conduct brought about his expulsion. he was appointed constable of france by john the good, and was killed at the battle of poitiers in 1356. his sister and heiress isabelle married walter of enghien, and so brought brienne to the house of enghien, and, by his marriage with margaret of enghien, john of luxemburg-st pol (d. about 1397) became count of brienne. the house of luxemburg retained the countship until margaret charlotte of luxemburg sold it to a certain marpon, who ceded it to henri auguste de lomenie (whose wife, louise de beon, descended from the house of luxemburg-brienne) in 1640. the limousin house of lomenie (the genealogies which trace this family to the 15th century are untrustworthy) produced many well-known statesmen, among others the celebrated cardinal etienne charles de lomenie de brienne (1727-1794), minister of louis xv.; and the last lords of brienne were members of this family. (m. p.*)