Squalide.

Bas'lard, and BASELARD, n. ( Mil . ) A short sword or dagger worn in the 15th century. It was a mark of gentility, and was carried in front of the girdle. IMG:content-0545.png:[graphic] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia transferred from Pavia to Sienna, and from Sienna to B. , a embled 23d July, 1431, and was concluded 16th May, 1043. Its chief objects were the union of the Greek and Latin Churches, and a general reformation of the Catholic Church. The University of B. was founded by a papal bull of Pius II. in 1459. Treaties of peace were concluded here between France and Pru ia, April 5 and May 17; between France and Spain, July 22; and between France and He e-Ca el, Aug 28, 1795. The French seized the city in 1798. B., Council of Announced at the Council of Con stance, it was convoked by Pope Martin V., and his succe or, Eugenius IV. It commenced its sittings, Dec. 14, 1431, under the presidency of the cardinal legate Juliano Cæsarin i of St. Angelo. The objects of its deliberations were to extirpate heresies, (that of the Hu ites in particular,) to unite all Christian nations under the Catholic Church, to put a stop to wars between Christian princes, and to reform the Church. But its first steps towards a peaceable reconciliation with the Hu ites, against whom Juliano had unsucce fully published a crusade, were displeasing to the Pope, who authorized the cardinal legate to di olve the council. That body opposed the pretensions of the Pope, with severe animadversions on his deceitful conduct, and his neglect of the welfare of the Church; and, notwithstanding his repeated orders to remove to Italy, continued its deliberations under the protection of the Emperor Sigismund, of the German princes, and of France. In order to secure itself against the attacks of Eugenius IV., it re-enacted the decrees of the Council of Con stance concerning the power of a general council, (in matters of faith, of schism, and of reformation,) to command the Pope, as well as all Christen dom, and to punish the disobedience of the clergy, and even of the Pope, by virtue of its judicial character as the representative of the Universal Church. It likewise pronounced all the doings and remonstrances of the Pope against its proceedings of no force, and began a formal proce against him, after he had i ued a bull for its di olution; required him, term after term, to appear before its tribunal, and exercised, as much as po ible, the papal prerogatives in France and Germany. Meanwhile, it concluded, in the name of the Church, a peace with the Hu ites, and then proceeded to the reformation of the clergy, by ordaining that the clergymen who maintained concubines, and the prelates who received money for permitting it, should be punished; that the annates , the sums paid for the pallia , ., should be regarded as simoniacal, and should not, under any pretext, be demanded or paid in future; that the divine service, the ma , and the canonical hours should be regularly observed by the clergy of each cla ; that the Feast of Fools, and all irreverent celebrations customary in the Church about Christmas, should be abolished. In the 23d se ion, (March 25, 1436,) the form of election, the confe ion of faith, and the official oath of each pope, by which he bound himself to obey the decrees of the council, and the annual repetition of the same, were provided for all preferment of the relations of a pope was forbidden, and the college of cardinals was limited to 24 prelates and doctors of all nations, who should be elected by the free votes of the college, should be entitled to half of the revenues of the States of the Church, should watch over the Pope, and always sign his bulls. General councils had always been objects of aversion to the popes, and often been prevented by them from a embling, on account of their limitations of the papal power; and the proceedings of the Council of Basle must have exasperated, to the highest degree, an obstinate man like Eugenius IV. He continually remonstrated with the sovereigns against the decrees of the council, which, in its turn, decreed his suspension from the papal chair, in the 31st se ion, (Jan. 24, 1438.) The removal of Eugenius, however, seemed so impracticable, that some prelates, who till then had been the boldest and most influential speakers in the council, left Basle; yet, after violent debates, (May 16, 1439.) the council declared Eugenius, on account of his obstinate disobedience of its decrees, a heretic, and formally deposed him, in the following se ion, as guilty of simony, perjury, violation of the laws of the Church, and bad administration in his office. At this se ion, the 34th, (June 25, 1439,) only two of the Spanish and Italian members were present; but the president adopted a spirited and effectual method for obtaining the decree. He ordered the holy relics, which existed in Basle, to be placed in the seats of the absent bishops, and produced such a strong excitement in the council, which still consisted of 400, for the most part French and German prelates, priests, and doctors, that it unanimously consented to the deposition of Eugenius. Notwithstanding the plague then raging in Basle, which continually diminished its number, it proceeded, in a regular conclave, (Nov. 17 of the same year,) to elect the Duke A made us of Savoy to the papal chair. Felix V.-which was the name he adopted - was acknowledged by only a few princes. The chief powers, France and Germany, a ented to the decrees of the council for the reformation of the Church, but they chose to remain neutral in the contest with Eugenius. The council, thus deserted by its protectors, gradually declined. It held a last se ion in 1443, at Lausanne, where some prelates remained together until 1449, when, after the death of Eugenius and the resignation of Felix V., they accepted the amnesty offered them by Nicholas V. The decrees of the Council of B. are admitted into none of the Roman archives. Had its just and suitable decrees for the reformation of the papal government, and clerical discipline of the Church, been executed, the Reformation of Luther would have, perhaps, never occurred. Basnage de Beau'val, JACQUES, an eminent French theologian and historian, B. at Rouen, in 1653, where he became pastor in 1676. On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he took refuge in Holland, became pastor at Rotter dam, and afterwards, at the Hague, enjoyed the friendship of the Grand Pensionary Heinsius, and was employed in several political negotiations. The most esteemed of his numerous works are, La Communion Sainte ; His to ire de la Religion des Eglises réformées; Anti quités Judaïques , . D. 1723. Bas'nettsville, in West Virginia, a village of Marion co. Basque Provinces, ( bask , ) [Sp. Vascongadas Pro vincias .] a territory of Spain, comprising the three prov. of Biscay, Alava, and Guipuzcoa, bounded N. by the Bay of Biscay, E. by Navarre, S. by the prov. of Logroño, and W. by Burgos and Santander. Lat. between 42° 25' and 43° 28′ N.; Lon. 1° 44′ and 3° 25′ W. Area , 2,971 sq. m. Desc. Mountainous and picturesque; the hills being generally covered to their summits with arboraceous vegetation. Its pastures are rich, soil fruitful, and agriculture flourishing. Prod . Cereals, fruits, and flax. Many sheep are reared. Min . Iron, tin, copper, marble, . Inhab. The Basques are a brave and primitive race, much attached to music and dancing, and eminently suited to that mode of guerilla warfare, by which they have so long preserved their independence. Humboldt supposes them to be the descendants of the ancient Iberians, and they are believed to have, at different periods, held all Spain under their sway. Their language has no analogy with any other living tongue, and is believed to have been, in remote ages, in use over the whole of the Iberian peninsula. - The Basques were subdued by the Goths, about A. D. 485. Guipuzcoa and Alava were united to Castile in the 13th century, and Biscay was annexed to Castile, by Peter the Cruel, in the 14th. Chief towns. Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Vittoria. Pop . 429,186. - There is also in France a territory which was formerly called the "Basque country," but which is now comprised in the dep. Ba es Pyrénées. - See ALAVA; BISCAY; GUIPUZCOA. Basque, a. Pertaining to the Basque provinces, their people or language.