Franchise

[Fr., from franc, free. See FRANK.] Freedom; liberty; a particular privilege or right granted by a sovereign or state to an individual or to a number of persons. The right of voting in an election. -v. a. To enfranchise; to make free. See ENFRANCHISE. Franchisement, n. See ENFRANCHISEMENT. Francia, ( fran'che -a,) an eminent painter, whose real name was FRANCESCO RAIBOLINI, was B. at Bologna in 1450. It is now known that FRANCESCO DA BOLOGNA, celebrated as a type-founder, is the same person as F. the painter. In his youth he was a goldsmith and an engraver of medals, but afterwards applied himself wholly to painting. Being employed by Rafaelle, in 1517, to place his picture of St. Cecilia in a church at Bologna, it is said that he was so struck with its beauty, and convinced of his own inferiority to Rafaelle, that he fell into a desponding state, which hastened his end. He had, however, nearly lived his threescore years and ten. D. 1518. Francia, DR. JOSE GASPAR RODRIGUEZ, the celebrated dictator of Paraguay, was the son of a small French proprietor in that country, and B. at A unçion, in 1757. His mother was a Creole. Arrived at the proper age, he was sent to the university of Cordova, with a view to entering the church; but his plans underwent a change while he was still a student, and on his return to his native town with the degree of doctor of laws, he began his public career as a barrister. His high reputation for learning, but still more for honesty and independence, procured him an extensive practice; and he devoted himself to legal pursuits for thirty years, varying his profe ional avocations with a perusal of the French Encyclopædic writers, and with the study of mathematics and mechanical philosophy, to which he remained addicted throughout his life. In 1811, soon after the revolution in the Spanish po e ions of South America became general, Dr. F. , then in his 54th year, was appointed secretary to the independent junta of Paraguay; and such was the ability he displayed in this capacity, that on the formation of a new congre , called in 1813, he was appointed consul of the republic, with Yegros for his colleague. From this moment the affairs of his country underwent a favorable change; the finances were husbanded; peace was obtained in Paraguay, while the rest of the South American continent was a prey to anarchy; and the people's gratitude to their deliverer was characteristically exhibited in conferring upon him, in 1817, unlimited despotic authority, which he exercised during the remainder of his life. D. 1840. Fran'cic, a. Relating to the Franks, or to their language; Frankish. Fran'cis I., King of France, B. 1494, succeeded to the throne in 1515, on the death of Louis XII., who died without male i ue. Scarcely had he ascended, than he, as grandson of Valentino of Milan, put himself at the head of an army to a ert his right over the Mil a The Swi , who opposed him in his entry into the duchy, were defeated at Marignano (or Melegnano), IMG:content-0249.png:[graphic] Fig . 1061. FRANCIS I., KING OF FRANCE. and Milan fell immediately after this victory. After a short war with England, the famous interview between Henry VIII. and F. took place, in 1520, in Flanders, which, from the magnificence displayed on the occasion, was called "the Field of the Cloth of Gold," q . v. In the same year, Charles V. of Spain having inherited the empire after the death of Maximilian, F. laid claim to Fig . 1062. COSTUME OF FRANCIS II. (France.) and led to the conspiracy of Amboise, and the beginning of the civil war between the Catholics and Protestants. The states-general were convoked at Orleans in 1560, and the prince of Condé, who had joined the Protestants, was there arrested, and sentenced to death; but the sentence was not executed in consequence of the death of the king soon after, Dec., 1560. Francis I., Emperor of Germany, B. 1708, was the son of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. He inherited this duchy from his father, in 1729, and six years afterwards exchanged it for that of Tuscany, which the death of the last of the Medicis had rendered vacant. In 1736 he married Maria The res a, the daughter of the Emperor Charles VI. On the death of the latter, he disputed the imperial dignity with the Elector of Bavaria, whom France supported, and who took the name of Charles VII.; he was, however, defeated, and Francis reigned peaceably for twenty years. D. 1765. His character was tarnished by avarice. He had sixteen children, among whom was Joseph II., who succeeded him, and the unfortunate Marie Antoinette. FRANCIS II., Emperor of Germany, and I. of Austria, B. 1768, succeeded his father, Leopold II., in 1792, as emperor of Germany, king of Bohemia, Hungary, . At the very commencement of his reign, he had to sustain a war against France, in which he was defeated, and was, in 1797, obliged to sign the treaty of Campo Formio, which deprived him of the Netherlands and Lombardy. Another war taking place with the same power, he was not more fortunate than in the first, and was beaten at Marengo, and lost, by the treaty of Luneville, in 1801, all his po e ions on the Rhine. In a third campaign, undertaken in 1805, the French were victorious over his armies at Elchingen, Ulm, and Austerlitz; and the treaty of Presburg still further diminished his territory. Renouncing now the title of Emperor of Germany, he took that of Austria, under the name of Francis I. He tried again the fate of battles in 1809; but the defeats of Eckmühl and Wagram led to the peace of Schönbrunn; to cement which more strongly, his daughter Maria Louisa was, in 1810, given to Napoleon I. Notwithstanding this alliance, however, he, in 1813, joined the coalition against his son-in-law, and contributed considerably to his overthrow. The treaties of 1815 put him again in po e ion of the greater portion of his territory, and he reigned peaceably till his death in 1835. He was succeeded by his son Ferdinand, who, in his turn, abdicated in favor of the reigning emperor, Francis Joseph, in 1848. poverty, he drew up rules for their use, which being sanctioned by Pope Innocent III., the order of Francis- cans was established. So rapidly did they increase, that in 1219 he held a chapter which was attended by 5000 friars. After having made a fruitle effort to convert the sultan Meleddin, he returned to A isi, where he D. in 1226, and was canonized by Pope Gregory IX. in 1230. Francis de Paulo, St., B. at Paulo, Calabria, 1416. He was brought up in a Francis can convent; and re- tired to a cell on the desert part of the coast, where he soon obtained followers, built a monastery, and thus commenced a new order, called Minims . He enjoined on his disciples a total abstinence from wine, flesh, and fish; besides which they were always to go barefoot and never sleep on a bed. D. in France, 1507, and was can- onized by Leo X. Francis de Sales, St., bishop of Geneva, founder of the Order of the Visitation, was born of a noble Savoyard family, at the château of Sales, near Geneva, in 1567. He was educated by the Jesuits at Paris, studied law at Padua, and having a strong bent to theology and a re- ligious life, entered the Church. Earnest and succe - ful as a preacher, he was sent, in 1594, with his kins- man, Louis de Sales, to preach in the duchy of Chablais, and bring back, if po ible, to the Catholic church the followers of Calvin. He had a large measure of succe . His conferences with Théodore de Bèze, Calvin's succes- sor, at Geneva, were, however, without result. He went to Paris in 1602, preached there with great succe , and steadily refused the offers of dignities made by the French king. The same year he was appointed bishop of Geneva, and taking St. Charles Borromeo as his model, applied himself zealously to the reform of the diocese and its monasteries. He was disinterested and free from worldly ambition, and declined the offer of a cardinal's hat and the renewed invitations of the king of France. In 1610 he founded the Order of the Visitation, of which the first directre was his friend Madame de Chantal. He was sent again to Paris in 1618, and died in 1622. His best known works are the "Introduction de la Vie Dévote," "Philothée, ou Traité de l'amour de Dieu," and his "Lettres Spirituel les." He was canon- ized by Pope Alexander VII. in 1665. Francis'can, n. pl. (Eccl. Hist .) One of the four orders of mendicant friars, who were termed Francis- cans after their founder St. Francis; Gray, from their gray clothing; and Minor, or Minorites, in token of their humility.. croachments; and they refused to acknowledge any au- thority whatever but that of the Pope. They spread with great rapidity, and at length comprised many you sand monasteries, all established by alms and con- tri but ions. The Capuchins , the Frati cell i, the Obser- vants , and the Clares or Clari es , are branches of the F. , which has at all times maintained its popularity in the Roman Catholic Church. Since the French revolution, the number has of course been very much diminished, the order having been suppre ed in more than one kingdom; but it is still one of the most numerous in the Roman Catholic Church. Many of the foreign mis- sions are mainly supplied by Francis cans, and they pos- se convents in almost every part of the world. Francisco, (San,) in California . See SAN FRANCISCO. Francisco, (São,) in Brazil. See SÃO FRANCISCO. Francisco, in Indiana , a post-village of Gibson co., Francis I., King of the Two Sicilies, was the son of Ferdinand I., and twice during the lifetime of his father he carried on the government of the kingdom under the name of viceroy; first in 1812, when a constitution was granted to Sicily; and afterwards in 1820, during the troubles which broke out in Naples and Palermo. He abt. 25 m. N. by E. of Evansville. Francisco, in Michigan , a post-office of Jackson co. Francis town, in New Hampshire, a post-town and township of Hills borough co., abt. 20 m. S.W. of Concord. Pop . (1897) abt. 900. Generally spelled FRANCE STOWN. Francisville, in Georgia , a village of Crawford co., about 31 m. W.S.W. of Macon. Francis, (St.,) or FRANCIS OF ASSISI, the founder of the order of Francis can friars, was born at A isi, in Um- bria, in 1182. He was the son of a merchant, and was said to be of di olute habits; but on recovering from a Francisville, in Kentucky , a village of Boone co. dangerous illne he became enthusiastically devout, and devoted himself to solitude, joyfully undergoing every Francker, a town of the Netherlands, in Fries land, 9 species of penance and mortification. Thinking his ex- travagance proceeded from insanity, his father had him closely confined; and at length, being taken before the bishop of A isi, in order formally to resign all claim to his paternal estate, he not only a ented to it, but liter- ally stripped himself. He was now looked upon as a saint; and great numbers joining him in his vow of m. from the Zuyder-Zee; pop . 4,500. François, (franse'waw.) [Fr., Francis.) See FRANCIS. François, St., a town of the island of Guadaloupe, 7/2 m. from St. Ann. Sugar and cotton works are exten- sively carried on. Pop . 5,000. Franco'li, a small river of Spain, rising abt. 3 m. from Prades, in Catalonia; thence flowing through Tarra- Fran'colite, n. ( Min .) A variety of apatite or phos- phate of lime, q. v. Franco'nia. This name was originally applied to the German country on both sides of the Maine, which was colonized by Frankish settlers under Thierry I., eldest son of Clovis I., who succeeded to his father's German po e ions in 511. Conrad, Duke or Count of Franco- nia, was elected King of Germany Nov. 8, 911, and prin- ces of the same house occupied the throne from 1024 till 1250. The Emperor Wenceslaus, in 1387, divided the empire into four circles, of which Franc on i a and Thu- ringia constituted one; and Maximilian I., in 1512, erect- ed Franc on i a into a distinct circle. In 1806 it was divided among Würtemberg, Baden, He e-Ca el, the Saxon duchies, and Bavaria, but since 1814 the greater part has belonged to Bavaria, where the districts or circles of Upper, Middle, and Lower Franc on i a were es- tablished in 1837. Upper F. includes the N.E. portion of Bavaria. It is watered by numerous rivers, as the Maine, Raab, Saale, ., and it is intersected by the Fichtelgebirge and by the hilly ravines of the Böhmer-, Franken-, and Steiger-Wald. The valleys produce good crops and fruit, and the district is rich in minerals. Middle F. , which abuts upon Würtemberg, is intersected by branches of the Franc on i an Jura chain, but has few rivers of importance besides the Regnitz and Altmühl, which are connected by the great Ludwig Canal. produces good wine, but is principally celebrated for its hop-gardens. Lower F. , which occupies the N.W. part of Bavaria, is traversed by the Spe art, the Rhönge- birge, and the Steiger-Wald, and watered by the Maine and Saale. It is the richest and best cultivated of the Franc on i an circles, and is celebrated for the excellence of its wines, the Steiner and Leister. The district is noted for its mineral springs at Ki in gen, Brückenau, Orb, and Wipfeld. - See BAVARIA. Franco/nia, in Minnesota , a township of Chisago co; pop . about 300. Fig . 1065. - THE FLUME. (White Mountains.) cliff of Profile or Jackson Mountain, so disposed that, as seen from the road 1,000 feet below, they closely re semble the outline of a human face. The S. branch of the Ammonoosuck River pa es through the township, and exhibits the most sublime scenery (see Fig. 1065.) The township abounds in magnetic iron. Franco'nia, in Ohio , a village of Putnam co., on the Auglaize River, abt. 120 m. N.W. of Columbus. Franco'nia, in Pennsylvania , a post-township of Mont gomery co., abt 15 m. N. of Norristown. IMG:content-0250.jpg:[graphic][subsumed][subsumed]