League

( The ), a league formed at Péronne in 1576, to prevent the acce ion of Henri IV. to the throne of France, because he was of the reformed religion. This league was mainly due to the Guises. It is occasionally called “The Holy League;” but the “Holy League” strictly so called is quite another thing, and it is better not to confound different events by giving them the same name. (See League, Holy ). League, (The Achæan) , B.C. 281-146. The old league consisted of the twelve Achæan cities confederated for self-defence from the remotest times. The league properly so called was formed against the Maced on i ans. League (The Ætolian) , formed some three centuries B.C. , when it became a formidable rival to the Maced on i an monarchs and the Achæan League. League (The Grey) , 1424, called Lia Grischa or Graubünd , from the grey homespun dre of the confederate peasants, the Grisons, in Switzerland. This league combined with the League Caddee (1401), and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions (1436), in a perpetual alliance in 1471. The object of these leagues was to resist domestic tyranny. League ( The Hans or Hanseatic ), 1241-1630, a great commercial confederation of German towns, to protect their merchandise against the Baltic pirates, and defend their rights against the German barons and princes. It began with Hamburg and Lubeck, and was joined by Bremen, Bruges, Bergen, Novogorod, London, Cologne, Brunswick, Danzig; and afterwards, by Dunker que, Anvers, Ostend, Dordrecht, Rotter dam, Amsterdam, etc.; still later by Calais, Rouen, St. Malo, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Marseilles, Barcelona, Seville, Cadiz, and Lisbon; and lastly by Me ina, Naples, etc.; in all, eighty cities. League ( The Holy ). Several leagues are so denominated, but that emphatically so called is the league of 1511 against Louis XII., formed by Pope Julius II., Ferdinand “the Catholic,” Henry VIII., the Venetians, and the Swi . Gaston de Foix obtained a victory over the league at Ravenna in 1512, but died in the midst of his triumph. League ( The Solemn ), 1638, formed in Scotland against the Episcopal government of the Church.