Acetylene 2548 deg. C.
Alcohol 1705 deg.
Hydrogen (in air) 1900 deg.
Oxy-hydrogen 2420 deg.
Oxy-coal gas blowpipe 2200 deg.
_Source of Light in Flames._--We may consider first those flames where
solid particles are out of the question; for example, the flame of
carbon monoxide in air. The old idea that the luminosity was due to the
thermal glow of the highly heated product of combustion has been
challenged independently by a number of observers, and the view has been
advanced that the emission of light is due to radiation attendant upon a
kind of discharge of chemical energy between the reacting molecules. E.
Wiedemann proposed the name "chemi-luminescence" for radiation of this
kind. The fact is that colourless gases cannot be made to glow by any
purely thermal heating at present available, and products of combustion
heated to the average temperature of the flames in which they are
produced are non-luminous. On the other hand, it must be remembered that
in a mass of burning gas only a certain proportion of the molecules are
engaged at one instant in the act of chemical combination, and that the
energy liberated in such individual transactions, if localized
momentarily as heat, would give individual molecules a unique condition
of temperature far transcending that of the average, and the
distribution of heat in a flame would be very different from that
existing in the same mixture of gases heated from an external source to
the same average temperature. The view advocated by Smithells is that in
the chemical combination of gases the initial phase of the formation of
the new molecule is a vibratory one, which directly furnishes light, and
that the damping down of this vibration by colliding molecules is the
source of that translatory motion which is evinced as heat. This, it
will be seen, is an exact reversal of the older view.
The view of Sir H. Davy that "whenever a flame is remarkably brilliant
and dense it may always be concluded that some solid matter is produced
in it" can be no longer entertained. The flames of phosphorus in oxygen
and of carbon disulphide in nitric oxide contain only gaseous products,
and Frankland showed that the flames of hydrogen and carbon monoxide
became highly luminous under pressure. From his experiments Frankland
was led to the generalization that high luminosity of flames is
associated with high density of the gases, and he does not draw a
distinction in this respect between high density due to high molecular
weight and high density due to the close packing of lighter molecules.
The increased luminosity of a compressed flame is not difficult to
understand from the kinetic theory of gases, but no explanation has
appeared of the luminosity considered by Frankland to be due merely to
high molecular weight. It is possible that the electron theory may
ultimately afford a better understanding of these phenomena.
_Structure of Flame._--The vagueness of the term structure, as applied
to flames, is to be seen from the very conflicting accounts which are
current as to the number of differentiated parts in different flames.
Unless this term is restricted to sharp differences in appearance, there
is no limit to the number of parts which may be selected for mention.
The flame of carbon monoxide, when the gas is not mixed with air before
it issues from the burner, shows no clearly differentiated structure,
but is a shell of blue luminosity of shaded intensity--a hollow cone if
the orifice of the burner be circular and the velocity of the gas not
immoderate, or a double sheet of fan shape if the burner have a slit or
two inclined pores which cause the jets of issuing gas to spread each
other out. Such a flame has but one single distinct feature, and this is
not surprising, as there is no reason to suppose that there is any
difference in the chemical process or processes that are occurring in
different quarters of the flame. The amount of materials undergoing this
transformation in different parts of the flame may and does vary; the
gases become diluted with products of combustion, and the molecular
vibrations gradually die down. These things may cause a variation in the
intensity of the light in different quarters, but the differences
induced are not sharp or in any proper sense structural. A flame of this
kind may develop a secondary feature of structure. If carbon monoxide be
burnt in oxygen which is mixed or combined with another element there
may be an additional chemical process that will give light; flames in
air are sometimes surrounded by a faintly luminous fringe of a greenish
cast, apparently associated with the combination of nitrogen with oxygen
(H.B. Dixon). Carbon monoxide on being strongly heated begins to
dissociate into carbon and carbon dioxide; if the unburnt carbon
monoxide within a flame of that gas were so highly heated by its own
burning walls as to reach the temperature of dissociation, we might
expect to see a special feature of structure due to the separated
carbon. Such a temperature does not, however, appear to be reached.
Apart from hydrocarbon flames not much has been published in reference
to the structure of flames. The case of cyanogen is of peculiar
interest. The beautiful flame of this gas consists of an almost crimson
shell surrounded by a margin of bright blue. Investigations have shown
that these two colours correspond to two steps in the progress of the
combustion, in the first of which the carbon of the cyanogen is oxidized
to carbon monoxide and in the second the carbon monoxide oxidized to
carbon dioxide.
The inversion of combustion may bring new features of structure into
existence; thus when a jet of cyanogen is burnt in oxygen no solid
carbon can be found in the flame, but when a jet of oxygen is burnt in
cyanogen solid carbon separates on the edge of the flame.
_Hydrocarbon Flames._--As already stated the flames of carbon compounds
and especially of hydrocarbons have been much more studied than any
other kind, as is natural from their common use and practical
importance. The earliest investigations were made with coal gas,
vegetable oils and tallow, and the composite and complex nature of these
substances led to difficulties and confusion in the interpretation of
results. One such difficulty may be illustrated by the fact, often
overlooked, that when a mixed gaseous combustible issues into air the
individual component gases will separate spontaneously in accordance
with their diffusibilities: hydrogen will thus tend to get to the outer
edge of a flame and heavy hydrocarbons to lag behind.
The features of structure in a hydrocarbon flame depend of course on the
manner in which the air is supplied. The extreme cases are (i.) when the
issuing gas is supplied before it leaves the burner with sufficient air
for complete combustion, as in the blast blowpipe, in which case we have
a sheet of blue undifferentiated flame; and (ii.) when the gas has to
find all the air it requires after leaving the burner. The intermediate
stage is when the issuing gas is supplied before leaving the burner with
a part of the air that is required. In this case a two-coned flame is
produced. The general theory of such phenomena has already been
discussed. It must be remarked that the transition of one kind of flame
into the others can be effected gradually, and this is seen with
particular ease and distinctness by burning benzene vapour admixed with
gradually increasing quantities of air. The key to the explanation of
the structure of an ordinary luminous flame, such as that of a candle,
is to be found, according to Smithells, by observing the changes
undergone by a well-aerated Bunsen flame as the "primary" air is
gradually cut off by closing the air-ports at the base of the burner. It
is then seen that the two cones of flame evolve or degenerate into the
two recognizable blue parts of an ordinary luminous flame, whilst the
appearance of the bright yellow luminous patch becomes increasingly
emphasized as a hollow dome lying within the upper part of the blue
sheath. There are thus three recognizable features of structure in an
ordinary luminous flame, each region being as it were a mere shell and
the interior of the flame filled with gas which has not yet entered into
active combustion. If, as is suggested, the blue parts of an ordinary
luminous flame are the relics of the two cones of a Bunsen flame, the
chemistry of a Bunsen flame may be appropriately considered first. What
happens chemically when a hydrocarbon is burned in a Bunsen burner? The
air sent in with the gas is insufficient for complete combustion so
that the inner cone of the flame may be considered as air burning in an
excess of coal gas. What will be the products of this combustion? This
question has been answered at different times in very different ways.
There are many conceivable answers: part of the hydrocarbon might be
wholly oxidized and the rest left unaltered to mix with the outside air
and burn as the outer cone; on the other hand, there might be (as has
been so commonly assumed) a selective oxidation in the inner cone
whereby the hydrogen was fully oxidized and the carbon set free or
oxidized to carbon monoxide; or again the carbon might be oxidized to
carbon dioxide or monoxide and the hydrogen set free. There might of
course be other intermediate kinds of action. Now it is important at
this point to insist upon a distinction between what can be found by
direct analysis as to the products of partial combustion, and what can
be imagined or inferred as the transitory existence of substances of
which the products actually found in analysis are the outcome. We shall
consider only in the first instance what substances are found by
analysis. Earlier experiments on the Bunsen burner in which coal gas was
used, and the gases withdrawn directly from the flame by aspiration,
gave no very clear results, but the introduction of the cone-separating
apparatus and the use of single hydrocarbons led to more definite
conclusions. The analysis of the inter-conal gases from an ethylene
flame gave the following numbers:--carbon dioxide = 3.6; water = 9.5;
carbon monoxide = 15.6; hydrocarbons = 1.3; hydrogen = 9.4; nitrogen =
60.6.
It appears therefore, and it may be stated as a fact, that a
considerable amount of hydrogen is left unoxidized, whilst practically
all the carbon is converted into monoxide or dioxide. As the gases have
cooled down before analysis and as the reaction CO + H2O<-->CO2 + H2 is
reversible, it may be objected that the inter-conal gases may have a
composition when they are hot very different from what they show when
cold. Experiments made to test this question have not sustained the
objection. Subsequent experiments on the oxidation of hydrocarbons have
made it appear undesirable to use the expression "preferential
combustion" or "selective combustion" in connexion with the facts just
stated; but for the purpose of describing in brief the chemistry of a
hydrocarbon flame it is necessary to say that in the inner cone of a
Bunsen flame hydrogen and carbon monoxide are the result of the limited
oxidation, and that the combustion of these gases with the external air
generates the outer cone of the flame. As to the actual stages in the
limited oxidation of a hydrocarbon a large amount of very valuable work
has been carried out by W.A. Bone and his collaborators. Different
hydrocarbons mixed with oxygen have been circulated continuously through
a vessel heated to various temperatures, beginning with that (about 250
deg. C.) at which the rate of oxidation is easily appreciable.
Proceeding in this way, Bone, without effecting a complete
transformation of the hydrocarbon into partially oxidized substances,
has isolated large quantities of such products, and concludes that the
oxidation of a hydrocarbon involves nothing in the nature of a selective
or preferential oxidation of either the hydrogen or the carbon. He
maintains that it occurs in several well-defined stages during which
oxygen enters into and is incorporated with the hydrocarbon molecule,
forming oxygenated intermediate products among which are alcohols and
aldehydes. The reactions between ethane and ethylene with an equal
volume of oxygen would be represented as follows:--
Stage 1. Stage 2.
CH3.CH3 ----> CH3.CH2OH ----> CH3.CH(OH)2
Ethane. Ethyl alcohol. _____/\______
____/\____ / CH3.CHO+H2O \
/ C2H4+H2O \ Acetaldehyde.
/ 2C+2H2+H2O \ ____/\_____
/ CH4+CO \
/ C+2H2+CO \
CH2 : CH2 ---> CH2 : CHOH -----> / HO.CH : CH.OH \
____/\____ ______/\_______
Ethylene. / C2H2+H2O \ / 2CH2O=2CO+2H2 \
/ 2C+H2+H2O \ Formaldehyde.
The affinity between the hydrocarbon and oxygen at a high temperature
is so great that, when the supply of oxygen is sufficient to carry the
oxidation as far as the second stage, practically no decomposition of
the monohydroxy molecule formed in the first stage occurs. This is
especially the case with unsaturated hydrocarbons.
As a crucial test decisive against the hypothesis of preferential carbon
oxidation, Bone cites the experiment of firing a mixture of equal
volumes of ethane and oxygen sealed up in a glass bulb. In such a case a
lurid flame fills the vessel, accompanied by a black cloud of carbon
particles and considerable condensation of water. About 10% of methane
is also found. It is impossible within the limits of this article to
give a more extended account of these later researches on the oxidation
of hydrocarbons. They make it evident that the relative oxidizability of
carbon and hydrogen cannot form the basis of a general theory of the
combustion of hydrocarbons, and that both the a priori view that
hydrogen is the more oxidizable element, and the inference from the
behaviour of ethylene when exploded with its own volume of oxygen, viz.
that carbon is the more oxidizable element in hydrocarbons, are not in
harmony with experimental facts.
The view that the bright luminosity of hydrocarbon flames is due "to the
deposition of solid charcoal" was first put forward by Sir Humphry Davy
in 1816. In explaining the origin of this charcoal, Davy used somewhat
ambiguous language, stating that it "might be owing to a decomposition
of a part of the gas towards the interior of the flame where the air was
in smallest quantity." This statement was interpreted commonly as
implying that the charcoal became free by the preferential combustion of
the hydrogen, and such an interpretation was given explicitly by
Faraday. Whatever may have been Davy's view with regard to this part of
the theory, his conclusion that finely divided carbon was the cause of
luminosity in hydrocarbon flames was not questioned until 1867, when E.
Frankland, in connexion with researches already alluded to, maintained
that the luminosity of such flames was not due in any important degree
to solid particles of carbon, but to the incandescence of dense
hydrocarbon vapours. Among the arguments adduced against this view the
most decisive is furnished by the optical test first used by J.L. Soret.
If the image of the sun be focussed upon the glowing part of a
hydrocarbon flame the scattered light is found to be polarized, and it
is indisputable that the luminous region is pervaded by a cloud of
finely divided solid matter. The quantity of this solid (estimated by
H.H.C. Bunte to be 0.1 milligram in a coal-gas flame burning 5 cub. ft.
per hour) is sufficient to account for the luminosity, so that Davy's
original view may be said to be now universally accepted.
The remaining question with regard to the luminosity of a hydrocarbon
flame relates to the manner in which the carbon is set free. The
fact-that hydrocarbons when strongly heated in absence of air will
deposit carbon has long been known and is daily evident in the operation
of coal-gas making, when gas carbon accumulates as a hard deposit in the
highly-heated crown of the retorts. There is no difficulty in supposing
therefore that the carbon in a flame is separated from the hydrocarbon
within it by the purely thermal action of the blue burning walls of the
flame. Many experiments might be adduced to confirm this view. It is
sufficient to name two. If a ring of metal wire be so disposed in a
small flame as to make a girdle within the blue walls towards the base,
the withdrawal of heat is rapid enough to prevent the maintenance of a
temperature sufficient to cause a separation of carbon, and the bright
luminosity disappears. Again, if the flame of a Bunsen burner be fed
through the air-ports not with air but with some neutral gas such as
nitrogen, carbon dioxide or steam, the dilution of the burning gas and
the hydrocarbon within it becomes so great that the temperature of
separation is not attained, no carbon is separated and the flame
consists of a single blue shell.
Whilst it is thus easy to understand generally why carbon becomes
separated as a solid within a flame, it is not easy to trace the
processes by which the carbon becomes separated in the case of a given
hydrocarbon. According to M.P.E. Berthelot, who made prolonged and
elaborate researches on the pyrogenetic relationships of hydrocarbons,
these compounds only liberate carbon by a process of the continual
coalescence of hydrocarbon molecules with the elimination of hydrogen,
until there is left the limiting solid hydrocarbon hardly
distinguishable from carbon itself and constituting the glowing soot of
flames.
V.B. Lewes, on the other hand, basing his conclusions on a study of the
thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons, on temperature measurements of
flames and analysis of their gases, has more recently developed a theory
of flame luminosity in which the formation and sudden exothermic
decomposition of acetylene are regarded as the essential incidents
productive of carbon separation and luminosity. Smithells has disputed
the evidence on which this theory is based and it appears to have gained
no adherence from those who have worked in the same field; but as it has
not been formally disavowed by the author and has found its way into
some text-books, it is mentioned here.
W.A. Bone and H.F. Coward (_Journ. Chem. Soc._, 1908) published the
results of a very careful study of the decomposition of hydrocarbons
when heated in a stationary condition and when continually circulated
through hot vessels. Their results disclose once more the great
difficulty of tracing the processes of decomposition and of arriving at
a generalization of wide applicability, but they appear to be conclusive
against the views both of Berthelot and of Lewes.
They do not think that the decomposition of hydrocarbons can be
adequately represented by ordinary chemical equations owing to the
complexity of the changes which really take place. Methane, which is the
most stable of the hydrocarbons, appears to be resolved at high
temperatures directly into carbon and hydrogen, but the phenomenon is
dependent mainly on surface action; ethane, ethylene and acetylene
undergo decomposition throughout the body of the gas (loc. cit. p. 1197
et seq.).
"In the cases of ethane and ethylene it may be supposed that the
_primary_ effect of high temperature is to cause an elimination of
hydrogen with a simultaneous loosening or dissolution of the bond
between the carbon atoms, giving rise to (in the event of dissolution)
residues such as : CH2 and [.:] CH. These residues, which can only
have a very fugitive separate existence, may either (a) form H2C :
CH2 and HC [.:] CH, as the result of encounters with other similar
residues, or (b) break down directly into carbon and hydrogen, or
(c) be directly hydrogenized to methane in an atmosphere rich in
hydrogen. These three possibilities may all be realized simultaneously
in the same decomposing gas in proportions dependent on the
temperature, pressure and amount of hydrogen present. The whole
process may be represented by the following scheme, the dotted line
indicating the tendency to dissolve a bond between the carbon atoms
which becomes actually effective at higher temperatures:--
H.:H
-------- / (a) C2H4 + H2
H.C.:C.H = [2(:CH2) + H2] = < (b) 2C + 2H2 + H2
H.:H \ (c) plus H2 = 2CH4
H.:H / (a) C2H2 + H2
-------- = [2(.:CH) + H2] = < (b) 2C + H2 + H2
H.C.:C.H \ (c) _plus_ 2H2 = CH4.
"In the ease of acetylene, the main primary change may be either one
of polymerization or of dissolution according to the temperature, and
if the latter, it may be supposed that the molecule breaks down across
the triple bond between the carbon atoms, giving rise to 2([.:]CH),
and that these residues are subsequently either resolved into carbon
and hydrogen or "hydrogenized" according to circumstances, thus:--
H.C.:C.H = [2(.:CH)] = / (a) 2C + H2
\/ \ (b) _plus_ 3H2 = 2CH4.
Polymerization.
"Acetylene is, moreover, distinguished by its power of polymerization
at moderate temperatures so that whether it is the gas initially
heated or whether it is a prominent product of the decomposition of
another hydrocarbon polymerization will occur to an extent dependent
on temperature."
We may describe briefly the view to which we are led as to the genesis
of an ordinary luminous hydrocarbon flame:--
The gaseous hydrocarbon issues from the burner or wick, let us suppose,
in a cylindrical column. This column is not sharply marked off from the
air but is so penetrated by it that we must suppose a gradual transition
from the pure hydrocarbon in the centre of column to the pure air on the
outside. Let us take a thin transverse slice of the flame, near the
lower part of the wick or close to the burner tube. At what lateral
distance from the centre will combustion begin? Clearly, where enough
oxygen has penetrated the column to give such partial combustion as
takes place in the inner cone of a Bunsen burner. This then defines the
blue region. Outside this the combustion of the carbon monoxide,
hydrogen and any hydrocarbons which pass from the blue region takes
place in a faintly luminous fringe. These two layers form a sheath of
active combustion, surrounding and intensely heating the enclosed
hydrocarbons in the middle of the column. These heated hydrocarbons rise
and are heated to a higher temperature as they ascend. They are
accordingly decomposed with separation of carbon in the higher parts of
the flame, giving the region of bright yellow luminosity. There remains
a central core in which neither is there any oxygen for combustion nor a
sufficiently high temperature to cause carbon separation. This
constitutes the dark interior region of the flame. We thus account for
the different parts of the flame. It is to be noted, however, that the
bright blue layer only surrounds the lower part of the flame, whilst the
pale, faintly-luminous fringe surrounds the whole flame. The flame also
is conical and not cylindrical. The foregoing explanation is therefore
not quite complete. Let us suppose that the changes have gone on in the
small section of the flame exactly as described and consider how the
processes will differ in parts above this section. The central core of
unburned gases will pass upwards and we may treat it as a new
cylindrical column which will undergo changes just as the original one,
leaving, however, a smaller core of unburned gases, or, in other words,
each succeeding section of the flame will be of smaller diameter. This
gives us the conical form of the flame. Again, the higher we ascend the
flame the greater proportionally is the amount of separated carbon, for
we have not only the heat of laterally outlying combustion to effect
decomposition, but also that of the lower parts of the flame. The lower
part of a luminous flame accordingly contains less separated carbon than
the upper. Where the hydrocarbon is largely decomposed before combustion
we have no longer the conditions of the Bunsen flame, and so in the
upper parts of a luminous flame the bright blue part fades away. The
luminous fringe would, however, be continued, for the separated hydrogen
has still to burn. In this way then we may reasonably account for the
existence, position and relative sizes of the four regions of an
ordinary luminous flame. (A. S.)
FLAMEL, NICOLAS (c. 1330-1418), reputed French alchemist and scrivener
to the university of Paris, was born in Paris or Pontoise about 1330,
and died in Paris in 1418, bequeathing the bulk of his property to the
church of Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie, where he was buried. During his
life he contributed freely to charitable and religious purposes from the
considerable wealth he amassed either by the practice of his craft, or,
as some surmise without definite proof, by fortunate speculation or
money lending, or, as legend has it, by alchemy. According to a document
purporting to be written by himself in 1413 (printed in Waite's _Lives
of the Alchemystical Philosophers_, London, 1888), there fell into his
hands in 1357, at the cost of two florins, a book on alchemy by Abraham
the Jew, which taught in plain words the transmutation of metals. It did
not, however, explain the _materia prima_, but merely figured or
depicted it, and for more than 20 years Flamel strove in vain to find
out the secret. Then, returning from a journey to Spain, he fell in with
a Christian Jew, named Canches, who gave him the explanation, and after
three more years' work he succeeded in preparing the _materia prima_,
thus being enabled in 1382 to transmute mercury into both silver and
gold. But this fantastic story was disposed of by the facts, derived
from parish records, set forth in Vilain's _Essai sur l'histoire de
Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie_, 1758, and his _Histoire critique de Nicolas
Flamel et de Pernelle sa femme, recueillie d'actes anciens qui
justifient l'origine et la mediocrite de leur fortune contre les
imputations des alchimistes_, 1761.
A book on alchemy in the Paris Bibliotheque, _Le Tresor de
philosophie_, professing to be written and illuminated by Flamel with
his own hand, is of very doubtful authenticity, and other treatises
bearing his name, such as the _Sommaire philosophique de Nicolas
Flamel_, published in 1561 in a collection of alchemist treatises
entitled _Transformation metallique_, are certainly spurious.
FLAMEN (from _flare_, "to blow up" the altar fire), a Roman sacrificial
priest. The flamens were subject to the pontifex (q.v.) maximus, and
were consecrated to the service of some particular deity. The highest in
rank were the _flamen Dialis_, _flamen Martialis_ and _flamen
Quirinalis_, who were always selected from among the patricians. Their
institution is generally ascribed to Numa. When the number of flamens
was raised from three to fifteen, those already mentioned were entitled
_majores_, in contradistinction to the other twelve, who were called
_minores_, as connected with less important deities, and were chosen
from the plebs. Towards the end of the republic the number of the lesser
flamens seems to have diminished. The flamens were held to be elected
for life, but they might be compelled to resign office for neglect of
duty, or on the occurrence of some ill-omened event (such as the cap
falling off the head) during the performance of their rites. The
characteristic dress of the flamens in general was the _apex_, a white
conical cap, the _laena_ or mantle, and a laurel wreath. The official
insignia of the _flamen Dialis_ (of Jupiter), the highest of these
priests, were the white cap (_pileus, albogalerus_), at the top of which
was an olive branch and a woollen thread; the _laena_, a thick woollen
_toga praetexta_ woven by his wife; the sacrificial knife; and a rod to
keep the people from him when on his way to offer sacrifice. He was
never allowed to appear without these emblems of office, every day being
considered a holy day for him. By virtue of his office he was entitled
to a seat in the senate and a curule chair. The sight of fetters being
forbidden him, his toga was not allowed to be tied in a knot but was
fastened by means of clasps, and the only kind of ring permitted to be
worn on his finger was a broken one. If a person in fetters took refuge
in his house he was immediately loosed from his bonds; and if a criminal
on his way to the scene of his punishment met him and threw himself at
his feet he was respited for that day. The _flamen Dialis_ was not
allowed to leave the city for a single night, to ride or even touch a
horse (a restriction which incapacitated him for the consulship), to
swear an oath, to look at an army, to touch anything unclean, or to look
upon people working. His marriage, which was obliged to be performed
with the ceremonies of _confarreatio_ (q.v.), was dissoluble only by
death, and on the death of his wife (called _flaminica Dialis_) he was
obliged to resign his office. The _flaminica Dialis_ assisted her
husband at the sacrifices and other religious duties which he performed.
She wore long woollen robes; a veil and a kerchief for the head, her
hair being plaited up with a purple band in a conical form (_tutulus_);
and shoes made of the leather of sacrificed animals; like her husband,
she carried the sacrificial knife. The main duty of the flamens was the
offering of daily sacrifices; on the 1st of October the three major
flamens drove to the Capitol and sacrificed to _Fides Publica_ (the
Honour of the People). Some of the municipal towns in Italy had flamens
as well as Rome.
We may mention, as distinct from the above, the _flamen curialis_, who
assisted the curio, the priest who attended to the religious affairs of
each curia (q.v.); the flamens of various sacerdotal corporations, such
as the Arval Brothers; the _flamen Augustalis_, who superintended the
worship of the emperor in the provinces.
See Marquardt, _Romische Staatsverwaltung_, iii. (1885), pp. 326-336,
473; H. Dessau, in _Ephemeris epigraphica_, iii. (1877); and the
exhaustive article by C. Jullian in Daremberg and Saglio,
_Dictionnaire des antiquites_.
FLAMINGO (Port. _Flamingo_, Span. _Flamenco_), one of the tallest and
most beautiful birds, conspicuous for the bright flame-coloured or
scarlet patch upon its wings, and long known by its classical name
_Phoenicopterus_, as an inhabitant of most of the countries bordering
the Mediterranean Sea. Flamingos have a very wide distribution, and the
sole genus comprises only a few species. _Ph. roseus_ or _antiquorum_,
white, with a rosy tinge above, and with scarlet wing-coverts, while the
remiges are black (as in all species), ranges from the Cape Verde
Islands to India and Ceylon, north as far as Lake Baikal; southwards
through Africa and Madagascar, eventually as _P. minor_. _P. ruber_,
entirely light vermilion, extends from Florida to Para and the
Galapagos; _P. chilensis_ s. _ignipalliatus_, from Peru to Patagonia,
more resembles the classical species; while _P. andinus_, the tallest of
all, which lacks the hallux, inhabits the salt lakes of the elevated
desert of Atacama, whence it extends into Chile and Argentina. Fossil
remains of flamingos have been described from the Lower Miocene of
France as _P. croizeti_, and from the Pliocene of Oregon. From the
Mid-Miocene to the Oligocene of France are known several species of
_Palaelodus_, _Elornis_ and _Agnopterus_, which have relatively shorter
legs, longer toes and a complicated hypotarsus, and represent an earlier
family, less specialized although not directly ancestral to the
flamingos. _Palaelodidae_ and _Phoenicopteridae_ together form the
larger group Phoenicopteri. These are in many respects exactly
intermediate between Anserine and stork-like birds, so much so in fact
that T.H. Huxley preferred to keep them separate as _Amphimorphae_.
However, if we carefully sift their characters, the flamingos obviously
reveal themselves as much nearer related to the _Ciconiae_, especially
to _Platalea_ and _Ibis_, than to the Anseres. This is the opinion
arrived at by W.F.R. Weldon, M. Fuerbringer and Gadow, while others
prefer the goose-like voice and the webbed toes as reliable characters.
(For a detailed analysis of this instructive question see Bronn's
_Thierreich_, Aves Syst. p. 146.)
[Illustration: The Flamingo.]
The food of the flamingo seems to consist chiefly of small aquatic
invertebrate animals which live in the mud of lagoons, for instance
Mollusca, but also of Confervae and other low salt-water algae. Whilst
feeding, the bird wades about, stirs up the mud with its feet, and,
reversing the ordinary position of its head so as to hold the crown
downwards and to look backwards, sifts the mud through its bill. This is
abruptly bent down in the middle, as if broken; the upper jaw is rather
flat and narrow, while the lower jaw is very roomy and furnished with
numerous lamellae, which, together with the thick and large tongue, act
like a sieve, an arrangement enhanced by the considerable movability of
the upper jaw. Then the bird erects its long neck to swallow the
selected food. When flying, flamingos present a striking and beautiful
sight, with legs and neck stretched out straight, looking like white and
rosy or scarlet crosses with black arms. Not less fascinating is a flock
of these sociable birds when at rest, standing on one or both legs, with
their long necks twisted or coiled upon the body in any conceivable
position.
The nest is likewise peculiar. It is built of mud, a somewhat conical
structure rising above the water according to the depth, of which the
cone is from a few inches to 2 ft. in height. If, as often happens, the
water-level sinks, the nests stand out higher. On the top is a shallow
cup for the reception of the one or two eggs, which have a bluish-white
shell with chalky incrustation. Of course the hen sits with her legs
doubled up under her, as does any other long-legged bird. It seems
strange that many ornithologists should have given credence to W.
Dampier's statement of the mode of incubation (_New Voyage round the
World_, ed. 2, i. p. 71, London, 1699): "And when they lay their eggs,
or hatch them, they stand all the while, not on the hillock, but close
by it with their legs on the ground and in the water, resting themselves
against the hillock, and covering the hollow nest upon it with their
rumps," &c. P.S. Pallas (_Zoograph. Rosso-Asiatica_, ii. p. 208) tried
to improve upon this by stating that the standing bird leans upon the
nest with its breast! The young, which are hatched after about four
weeks' incubation, look very different from the adult. The small bill is
still quite straight and the legs are short. The whole body is covered
with a thick coat of short nestling feathers, pure white in colour.
These _neossoptiles_ or first feathers bear no resemblance to those of
the Anseriform birds, but agree in detail with those of spoonbills, the
young of which the little flamingos resemble to a striking extent, but
they leave the nest soon after their birth to shift for themselves like
ducks and geese. (H. F. G.)
FLAMINIA, VIA, an ancient high road of Italy, constructed by C.
Flaminius during his censorship (220 B.C.). It led from Rome to
Ariminum, and was the most important route to the north. We hear of
frequent improvements being made in it during the imperial period.
Augustus, when he instituted a general restoration of the roads of
Italy, which he assigned for the purpose among various senators,
reserved the Flaminia for himself, and rebuilt all the bridges except
the Pons Mulvius, by which it crosses the Tiber, 2 m. N. of Rome (built
by M. Scaurus in 109 B.C.), and an unknown Pons Minucius. Triumphal
arches were erected in his honour on the former bridge and at Ariminum,
the latter of which is still preserved. Vespasian constructed a new
tunnel through the pass of Intercisa, modern Furlo, in A.D. 77 (see
CALES), and Trajan, as inscriptions show, repaired several bridges along
the road.
The Via Flaminia runs due N. from Rome, considerable remains of its
pavement being extant in the modern high road, passing slightly E. of
the site of the Etruscan Falerii, through Ocriculi and Narnia. Here it
crossed the Nar by a splendid four-arched bridge to which Martial
alludes (_Epigr._ vii. 93, 8), one arch of which and all the piers are
still standing; and went on, followed at first by the modern road to
Sangemini which passes over two finely preserved ancient bridges, past
Carsulae to Mevania, and thence to Forum Flaminii. Later on a more
circuitous route from Narnia to Forum Flaminii was adopted, passing by
Interamna, Spoletium and Fulginium (from which a branch diverged to
Perusia), and increasing the distance by 12 m. The road thence went on
to Nuceria (whence a branch road ran to Septempeda and thence either to
Ancona or to Tolentinum and Urbs Salvia) and Helvillum, and then crossed
the main ridge of the Apennines, a temple of Jupiter Apenninus standing
at the summit of the pass. Thence it descended to Cales (where it turned
N.E.), and through the pass of Intercisa to Forum Sempronii
(Fossombrone) and Forum Fortunae, when it reached the coast of the
Adriatic. Thence it ran N.W. through Pisaurum to Ariminum. The total
distance from Rome was 210 m. by the older road and 222 by the newer.
The road gave its name to a juridical district of Italy from the 2nd
century A.D. onwards, the former territory of the Senones, which was at
first associated with Umbria (with which indeed under Augustus it had
formed the sixth region of Italy), but which after Constantine was
always administered with Picenum. (T. As.)
FLAMININUS, TITUS QUINCTIUS (c. 228-174 B.C.), Roman general and
statesman. He began his public life as a military tribune under M.
Claudius Marcellus, the conqueror of Syracuse. In 199 he was quaestor,
and the next year, passing over the regular stages of aedile and
praetor, he obtained the consulship.
Flamininus was one of the first and most successful of the rising school
of Roman statesmen, the opponents of the narrow patriotism of which Cato
was the type, the disciples of Greek culture, and the advocates of a
wide imperial policy. His winning manners, his polished address, his
knowledge of men, his personal fascination, and his intimate knowledge
of Greek, all marked him out as the fittest representative of Rome in
the East. Accordingly, the province of Macedonia, and the conduct of the
war with Philip V. of Macedon, in which, after two years, Rome had as
yet gained little advantage, were assigned to him. Flamininus modified
both the policy and tactics of his predecessors. After an unsuccessful
attempt to come to terms, he drove the Macedonians from the valley of
the Aous by skilfully turning an impregnable position. Having thus
practically made himself master of Macedonia, he proceeded to Greece,
where Philip still had allies and supporters. The Achaean League (q.v.)
at once deserted the cause of Macedonia, and Nabis, the tyrant of
Sparta, entered into an alliance with Rome; Acarnania and Boeotia
submitted in less than a year, and, with the exception of the great
fortresses, Flamininus had the whole of Greece under his control. The
demand of the Greeks for the expulsion of Macedonian garrisons from
Demetrias, Chalcis and Corinth, as the only guarantee for the freedom of
Greece, was refused, and negotiations were broken off. Hostilities were
renewed in the spring of 197, and Flamininus took the field supported by
nearly the whole of Greece. At Cynoscephalae the Macedonian phalanx and
the Roman legion for the first time met in open fight, and the day
decided which nation was to be master of Greece and perhaps of the
world. It was a victory of superior tactics. The left wing of the Roman
army was retiring in confusion before the Macedonian right led by Philip
in person, when Flamininus, leaving them to their fate, boldly charged
the left wing under Nicanor, which was forming on the heights. Before
the left wing had time to form, Flamininus was upon them, and a massacre
rather than a fight ensued. This defeat was turned into a general rout
by a nameless tribune, who collected twenty companies and charged in the
rear the victorious Macedonian phalanx, which in its pursuit had left
the Roman right far behind. Macedonia was now at the mercy of Rome, but
Flamininus contented himself with his previous demands. Philip lost all
his foreign possessions, but retained his Macedonian kingdom almost
entire. He was required to reduce his army, to give up all his decked
ships except five, and to pay an indemnity of 1000 talents (L244,000).
Ten commissioners arrived from Rome to regulate the final terms of
peace, and at the Isthmian games a herald proclaimed to the assembled
crowds that "the Roman people, and T. Quinctius their general, having
conquered King Philip and the Macedonians, declare all the Greek states
which had been subject to the king henceforward free and independent."
Flamininus's last act before returning home was characteristic. Of the
Achaeans, who vied with one another in showering upon him honours and
rewards, he asked but one personal favour, the redemption of the Italian
captives who had been sold as slaves in Greece during the Hannibalic
War. These, to the number of 1200, were presented to him on the eve of
his departure (spring, 194), and formed the chief ornament of his
triumph.
In 192, on the rupture between the Romans and Antiochus III. the Great,
Flamininus returned to Greece, this time as the civil representative of
Rome. His personal influence and skilful diplomacy secured the wavering
Achaean states, cemented the alliance with Philip, and contributed
mainly to the Roman victory at Thermopylae (191). In 183 he undertook
an embassy to Prusias, king of Bithynia, to induce him to deliver up
Hannibal, who forestalled his fate by taking poison. Nothing more is
known of Flamininus, except that, according to Plutarch, his end was
peaceful and happy.
There seems no doubt that Flamininus was actuated by a genuine love of
Greece and its people. To attribute to him a Machiavellian policy, which
foresaw the overthrow of Corinth fifty years later and the conversion of
Achaea into a Roman province, is absurd and disingenuous. There is more
force in the charge that his Hellenic sympathies prevented him from
seeing the innate weakness and mutual jealousies of the Greek states of
that period, whose only hope of peace and safety lay in submitting to
the protectorate of the Roman republic. But if the event proved that the
liberation of Greece was a political mistake, it was a noble and
generous mistake, and reflects nothing but honour on the name of
Flamininus, "the liberator of the Greeks."
His life has been written by Plutarch, and in modern times by F.D.
Gerlach (1871); see also Mommsen, _Hist. of Rome_ (Eng. tr.), bk. iii.
chs. 8, 9.
FLAMINIUS, GAIUS, Roman statesman and general, of plebeian family.
During his tribuneship (232 B.C.), in spite of the determined opposition
of the senate and his own father, he carried a measure for distributing
among the plebeians the _ager Gallicus Picenus_, an extensive tract of
newly-acquired territory to the south of Ariminum (Cicero, _De
senectute_, 4, _Brutus_, 14). As praetor in 227, he gained the lasting
gratitude of the people of his province (Sicily) by his excellent
administration. In 223, when consul with P. Furius Philus, he took the
field against the Gauls, who were said to have been roused to war by his
agrarian law. Having crossed the Po to punish the Insubrians, he at
first met with a severe check and was forced to capitulate. Reinforced
by the Cenomani, he gained a decisive victory on the banks of the Addua.
He had previously been recalled by the optimates, but ignored the order.
The victory seems to have been due mainly to the admirable discipline
and fighting qualities of the soldiers, and he obtained the honour of a
triumph only after the decree of the senate against it had been
overborne by popular clamour. During his censorship (220) he strictly
limited the freedmen to the four city tribes (see COMITIA). His name is
further associated with two great works. He erected the Circus Flaminius
on the Campus Martius, for the accommodation of the plebeians, and
continued the military road from Rome to Ariminum, which had hitherto
only reached as far as Spoletium (see FLAMINIA, VIA). He probably also
instituted the "plebeian" games. In 218, as a leader of the democratic
opposition, Flaminius was one of the chief promoters of the measure
brought in by the tribune Quintus Claudius, which prohibited senators
and senators' sons from possessing sea-going vessels, except for the
transport of the produce of their own estates, and generally debarred
them from all commercial speculation (Livy xxi. 63). His effective
support of this measure vastly increased the popularity of Flaminius
with his own order, and secured his second election as consul in the
following year (217), shortly after the defeat of T. Sempronius Longus
at the Trebia. He hastened at once to Arretium, the termination of the
western high road to the north, to protect the passes of the Apennines,
but was defeated and killed at the battle of the Trasimene lake (see
PUNIC WARS).
The testimony of Livy (xxi., xxii.) and Polybius (ii., iii.)--no
friendly critics--shows that Flaminius was a man of ability, energy and
probity. A popular and successful democratic leader, he cannot, however,
be ranked among the great statesmen of the republic. As a general he was
headstrong and self-sufficient and seems to have owed his victories
chiefly to personal boldness favoured by good fortune.
His son, GAIUS FLAMINIUS, was quaestor under P. Scipio Africanus the
elder in Spain in 210, and took part in the capture of New Carthage.
Fourteen years later, when curule aedile, he distributed large
quantities of grain among the citizens at a very low price. In 193, as
praetor, he carried on a successful war against the insubordinate
populations of his recently constituted province of Hispania Citerior.
In 187 he was consul with M. Aemilius Lepidus, and subjugated the
warlike Ligurian tribes. In the same year the branch of the Via Aemilia
connecting Bononia with Arretium was constructed by him. In 181 he
founded the colony of Aquileia. The chief authority for his life is the
portion of Livy dealing with the history of the period.
FLAMSTEED, JOHN (1646-1719), English astronomer, was born at Denby, near
Derby, on the 19th of August 1646. The only son of Stephen Flamsteed, a
maltster, he was educated at the free school of Derby, but quitted it
finally in May 1662, in consequence of a rheumatic affection of the
joints, due to a chill caught while bathing. Medical aid having proved
of no avail, he went to Ireland in 1665 to be "stroked" by Valentine
Greatrakes, but "found not his disease to stir." Meanwhile, he solaced
his enforced leisure with astronomical studies. Beginning with J.
Sacrobosco's _De sphaera_, he read all the books on the subject that he
could buy or borrow; observed a partial solar eclipse on the 12th of
September 1662; and attempted the construction of measuring instruments.
A tract on the equation of time, written by him in 1667, was published
by Dr John Wallis with the _Posthumous Works_ of J. Horrocks (1673); and
a paper embodying his calculations of appulses to stars by the moon,
which appeared in the _Philosophical Transactions_ (iv. 1099), signed
_In Mathesi a sole fundes_, an anagram of "Johannes Flamsteedius,"
secured for him, from 1670, general scientific recognition.
On his return from a visit to London in 1670 he became acquainted with
Isaac Newton at Cambridge, entered his name at Jesus college, and took,
four years later, a degree of M.A. by letters-patent. An essay composed
by him in 1673 on the true and apparent diameters of the planets
furnished Newton with data for the third book of the _Principia_, and he
fitted numerical elements to J. Horrocks's theory of the moon. In 1674,
and again in 1675, he was invited to London by Sir Jonas Moore, governor
of the Tower, who proposed to establish him in a private observatory at
Chelsea, but the plan was anticipated by the determination of Charles
II. to have the tables of the heavenly bodies corrected, and the places
of the fixed stars rectified "for the use of his seamen," and Flamsteed
was appointed "astronomical observator" by a royal warrant dated 4th of
March 1675. His salary of L100 a year was cut down by taxation to L90;
he had to provide his own instruments, and to instruct, into the
bargain, two boys from Christ's hospital. Sheer necessity drove him, in
addition, to take many private pupils; but having been ordained in 1675,
he was presented by Lord North in 1684 to the living of Burstow in
Surrey; and his financial position was further improved by a small
inheritance on his father's death in 1688. He now ordered, at an expense
of L120, a mural arc from Abraham Sharp, with which he began to observe
systematically on the 12th of September 1689 (see ASTRONOMY: _History_).
The latter part of Flamsteed's life passed in a turmoil of controversy
regarding the publication of his results. He struggled to withhold them
until they could be presented in a complete form; but they were urgently
needed for the progress of science, and the astronomer-royal was a
public servant. Sir Isaac Newton, who depended for the perfecting of his
lunar theory upon "places of the moon" reluctantly doled out from
Greenwich, led the movement for immediate communication; whence arose
much ill-feeling between him and Flamsteed. At last, in 1704, Prince
George of Denmark undertook the cost of printing; a committee of the
Royal Society was appointed to arrange preliminaries, and Flamsteed,
protesting and exasperated, had to submit. The work was only partially
through the press when the prince died, on the 28th of October 1708, and
its completion devolved upon a board of visitors to the observatory
endowed with ample powers by a royal order of the 12th of December 1712.
As the upshot, the _Historia coelestis_, embodying the first Greenwich
star-catalogue, together with the mural arc observations made 1689-1705,
was issued under Edmund Halley's editorship in 1712. Flamsteed denounced
the production as surreptitious; he committed to the flames three
hundred copies, of which he obtained possession through the favour of
Sir Robert Walpole; and, in defiance of bodily infirmities, vigorously
prosecuted his designs for the entire and adequate publication of the
materials he continued to accumulate. They were but partially executed
when he died on the 31st of December 1719. The preparation of his
monumental work, _Historia coelestis Britannica_ (3 vols. folio, 1725),
was finished by his assistant, Joseph Crosthwait, aided by Abraham
Sharp. The first two volumes included the whole of Flamsteed's
observations at Derby and Greenwich; the third contained the _British
Catalogue_ of nearly 3000 stars. Numerous errors in this valuable record
having been detected by Sir William Herschel, Caroline Herschel drew up
a list of 560 stars observed, but not catalogued, while 111 of those
catalogued proved to have never been observed (_Phil. Trans._ lxxxvii.
293; see also F. Baily, _Memoirs Roy. Astr. Society_, iv. 129). The
appearance of the _Atlas coelestis_, corresponding to the _British
Catalogue_, was delayed until 1729. A portrait of Flamsteed, painted by
Thomas Gibson in 1712, hangs in the rooms of the Royal Society. The
extent and quality of his performance were the more remarkable
considering his severe physical sufferings, his straitened means, and
the antagonism to which he was exposed. Estimable in private life, he
was highly susceptible in professional matters, and hence failed to keep
on terms with his contemporaries.
Francis Baily's _Account of the Rev. John Flamsteed_ (1835) is the
leading authority for his life. It comprises an autobiographical
narrative pieced together from various sources, a large collection of
Flamsteed's letters, a revised and enlarged edition of the _British
Catalogue_, besides authoritative and detailed introductory
discussions. Some clamour was raised by a publication in which blame
for harsh dealings was freely imputed to Newton, but W. Whewell
vindicated his character in _Flamsteed and Newton_ (1836).
See also _General Dictionary_, vol. v. (1737), from materials supplied
by James Hodgson, Flamsteed's nephew-in-law; _Biographia Britannica_,
iii. 1943 (1750); S. Rigaud's _Correspondence of Scientific Men_;
Cunningham's _Lives of Eminent Englishmen_, iv. 366 (1835); Mark
Noble's Continuation of James Granger's Biog. _Hist. of England_, ii.
132; R. Grant's _Hist. of Phys. Astronomy_, p. 467; W. Whewell's
_Hist. of the Inductive Sciences_, ii. 162; J.S. Bailly's _Hist. de
l'astronomie moderne_, ii. 423, 589, 650; J. Delambre's _Hist. de
l'astronomie au XVIII^e siecle_, p. 93; _Observatory_, xv. 355, 379,
382. (A. M. C.)
FLANDERS (Flem. _Vlaanderen_), a territorial name for part of the
Netherlands, Europe. Originally it applied only to Bruges and the
immediate neighbourhood. In the 8th and 9th centuries it was gradually
extended to the whole of the coast region from Calais to the Scheldt. In
the middle ages this was divided into two parts, one looking to Bruges
as its capital, and the other to Ghent. The name is retained in the two
Belgian provinces of West and East Flanders.
1. West Flanders is the portion bordering the North Sea, and its
coast-line extends from the French to the Dutch frontier for a little
over 40 m. Its capital is Bruges, and the principal towns of the
province are Ostend, Courtrai, Ypres and Roulers. Agriculture is the
chief occupation of the population, and the country is under the most
careful and skilful cultivation. The admiration of the foreign observer
for the Belgian system of market gardening is not diminished on learning
that the subsoil of most of this tract is the sand of the "dunes."
Fishing employs a large proportion of the coast population. The area of
West Flanders is officially computed at 808,667 acres or 1263 sq. m. In
1904 the population was 845,732, giving an average of 669 to the sq. m.
2. East Flanders lies east and north-east of the western province, and
extends northwards to the neighbourhood of Antwerp. It is still more
productive and richer than Western Flanders, and is well watered by the
Scheldt. The district of Waes, land entirely reclaimed within the memory
of man, is supposed to be the most productive district of its size in
Europe. The principal towns are Ghent (capital of the province), St
Nicolas, Alost, Termonde, Eecloo and Oudenarde. The area is given at
749,987 acres or 1172 sq. m. In 1904 the population was 1,073,507,
showing an average of 916 per sq. m.
_History._--The ancient territory of Flanders comprised not only the
modern provinces known as East and West Flanders, but the southernmost
portion of the Dutch province of Zeeland and a considerable district in
north-western France. In the time of Caesar it was inhabited by the
Morini, Atrebates and other Celtic tribes, but in the centuries that
followed the land was repeatedly overrun by German invaders, and finally
became a part of the dominion of the Franks. On the break-up of the
Carolingian empire the river Scheldt was by the treaty of Verdun (843)
made the line of division between the kingdom of East Francia
(Austrasia) under the emperor Lothaire, and the kingdom of West Francia
(Neustria) under Charles the Bald. In virtue of this compact Flanders
was henceforth attached to the West Frankish monarchy (France). It thus
acquired a position unique among the provinces of the territory known in
later times as the Netherlands, all of which were included in that
northern part of Austrasia assigned on the death of the emperor Lothaire
(855) to King Lothaire II., and from his name called Lotharingia or
Lorraine.
The first ruler of Flanders of whom history has left any record is
Baldwin, surnamed _Bras-de-fer_ (Iron-arm). This man, a brave and daring
warrior under Charles the Bald, fell in love with the king's daughter
Judith, the youthful widow of two English kings, married her, and fled
with his bride to Lorraine. Charles, though at first very angry, was at
last conciliated, and made his son-in-law margrave (_Marchio Flandriae_)
of Flanders, which he held as an hereditary fief. The Northmen were at
this time continually devastating the coast lands, and Baldwin was
entrusted with the possession of this outlying borderland of the west
Frankish dominion in order to defend it against the invaders. He was the
first of a line of strong rulers, who at some date early in the 10th
century exchanged the title of margrave for that of count. His son,
Baldwin II.--the Bald--from his stronghold at Bruges maintained, as did
his father before him, a vigorous defence of his lands against the
incursions of the Northmen. On his mother's side a descendant of
Charlemagne, he strengthened the dynastic importance of his family by
marrying Aelfthryth, daughter of Alfred the Great. On his death in 918
his possessions were divided between his two sons Arnulf the Elder and
Adolphus, but the latter survived only a short time and Arnulf succeeded
to the whole inheritance. His reign was filled with warfare against the
Northmen, and he took an active part in the struggles in Lorraine
between the emperor Otto I. and Hugh Capet. In his old age he placed the
government in the hands of Baldwin, his son by Adela, daughter of the
count of Vermandois, and the young man, though his reign was a very
short one, did a great deal for the commercial and industrial progress
of the country, establishing the first weavers and fullers at Ghent, and
instituting yearly fairs at Ypres, Bruges and other places.
On Baldwin III.'s death in 961 the old count resumed the control, and
spent the few remaining years of his life in securing the succession of
his grandson Arnulf II.--the Younger. The reign of Arnulf was terminated
by his death in 989, and he was followed by his son Baldwin IV., named
_Barbatus_ or the Bearded. This Baldwin fought successfully both against
the Capetian king of France and the emperor Henry II. Henry found
himself obliged to grant to Baldwin IV. in fief Valenciennes, the
burgraveship of Ghent, the land of Waes, and Zeeland. The count of
Flanders thus became a feudatory of the empire as well as of the French
crown. The French fiefs are known in Flemish history as Crown Flanders
(_Kroon-Vlaanderen_), the German fiefs as Imperial Flanders
(_Rijks-Vlaanderen_). Baldwin's son--afterwards Baldwin V.--rebelled in
1028 against his father at the instigation of his wife Adela, daughter
of Robert II. of France; but two years later peace was sworn at
Oudenaarde, and the old count continued to reign till his death in 1036.
Baldwin V. proved a worthy successor, and acquired from the people the
surname of _Debonnaire_. He was an active enterprising man, and greatly
extended his power by wars and alliances. He obtained from the emperor
Henry IV. the territory between the Scheldt and the Dender as an
imperial fief, and the margraviate of Antwerp. So powerful had he become
that the Flemish count on the decease of Henry I. of France in 1060 was
appointed regent during the minority of Philip I. (see FRANCE). Before
his death he saw his eldest daughter Matilda (d. 1083) sharing the
English throne with William the Conqueror, his eldest son Baldwin of
Mons in possession of Hainaut in right of his wife Richilde, heiress of
Regnier V. (d. 1036) and widow of Hermann of Saxony (d. 1050/1) (see
HAINAUT), and his second son Robert the Frisian regent (_voogd_) of the
county of Holland during the minority of Dirk V., whose mother, Gertrude
of Saxony, widow of Floris I. of Holland (d. 1061), Robert had married
(see HOLLAND). On his death in 1067 his son Baldwin of Mons, already
count of Hainaut, succeeded to the countship of Flanders. Baldwin V. had
granted to Robert the Frisian on his marriage in 1063 his imperial
fiefs. His right to these was disputed by Baldwin VI., and war broke out
between the two brothers. Baldwin was killed in battle in 1070. Robert
now claimed the tutelage of Baldwin's children and obtained the support
of the emperor Henry IV., while Richilde, Baldwin's widow, appealed to
Philip I. of France. The contest was decided at Ravenshoven, near
Cassel, on the 22nd of February 1071, where Robert was victorious.
Richilde was taken prisoner and her eldest son Arnulf III. was slain.
Robert obtained from Philip I. the investiture of Crown Flanders, and
from Henry IV. the fiefs which formed Imperial Flanders.
The second son of Richilde was recognized as count of Hainaut (see
HAINAUT), which was thus after a brief union separated from Flanders.
Robert died in 1093, and was succeeded by his son Robert II., who
acquired great renown by his exploits in the first crusade, and won the
name of the Lance and Sword of Christendom. His fame was second only to
that of Godfrey of Bouillon. Robert returned to Flanders in 1100. He
fought with his suzerain Louis the Fat of France against the English,
and was drowned in 1111 by the breaking of a bridge. His son and
successor, Baldwin VII., or Baldwin with the Axe, also fought against
the English in France. He died at the age of twenty-seven from the wound
of an arrow, in 1119, leaving no heir. He nominated as his successor his
cousin Charles, son of Knut IV. of Denmark and of Adela, daughter of
Robert the Frisian. Charles tried his utmost to put down oppression and
to promote the welfare of his subjects, and obtained the surname of "the
Good." His determination to enforce the right made him many enemies, and
he was foully murdered on Ash Wednesday, 1127, at Bruges. He died
childless, and there were no less than six candidates to the countship.
The contest lay between two of these, William Clito, son of Robert of
Normandy and grandson of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders,
and Thierry or Dirk of Alsace, whose mother Gertrude was a daughter of
Robert the Frisian. William Clito, through the support of Louis of
France, was at first accepted by the Flemish nobles as count, but he
gave offence to the communes, who supported Thierry. A struggle ensued
and William was killed before Alost. Thierry then became count without
further opposition. He married the widow of Charles the Good, Marguerite
of Clermont, and proved himself at home a wise and prudent prince,
encouraging the growth of popular liberty and of commerce. In 1146 he
took part in the second crusade and distinguished himself by his
exploits. In 1157 he resigned the countship to his son Philip of Alsace
and betook himself once more to Jerusalem. On his return from the East
twenty years later Thierry retired to a monastery to die in his own
land.
Count Philip of Alsace was a strong and able man. He did much to promote
the growth of the municipalities for which Flanders was already becoming
famous. Ghent, Bruges, Ypres, Lille and Douai under him made much
progress as flourishing industrial towns. He also conferred rights and
privileges on a number of ports, Hulst, Nieuwport, Sluis, Dunkirk, Axel,
Damme, Gravelines and others. But while encouraging the development of
the communes and "free towns," Philip sternly repressed any spirit of
independence or attempted uprisings against his authority. This count
was a powerful prince. He acted for a time as regent in France during
the minority of his godson Philip Augustus, and married his ward to his
niece Isabella of Hainaut (1180). Philip took part in the third
crusade, and died in the camp before Acre of the pestilence in 1191.