[1] Communicated by Madame Wagner, December 28th, 1897.
HOMAGE (from _homo_, through the Low Lat. _hominaticum_, which occurs in
a document of 1035), one of the ceremonies used in the granting of a
fief, and indicating the submission of a vassal to his lord. It could be
received only by the suzerain in person. With head uncovered the vassal
humbly requested to be allowed to enter into the feudal relation; he
then laid aside his sword and spurs, ungirt his belt, and kneeling
before his lord, and holding his hands extended and joined between the
hands of his lord, uttered words to this effect: "I become your man from
this day forth, of life and limb, and will hold faith to you for the
lands I claim to hold of you." The oath of fealty, which could be
received by proxy, followed the act of homage; then came the ceremony of
investiture, either directly on the ground or by the delivery of a turf,
a handful of earth, a stone, or some other symbolical object. Homage was
done not only by the vassal to whom feudal lands were first granted but
by every one in turn by whom they were inherited, since they were not
granted absolutely but only on condition of military and other service.
An infant might do homage, but he did not thus enter into full
possession of his lands. The ceremony was of a preliminary nature,
securing that the fief would not be alienated; but the vassal had to
take the oath of fealty, and to be formally invested, when he reached
his majority. The obligations involved in the act of homage were more
general than those associated with the oath of fealty, but they provided
a strong moral sanction for more specific engagements. They essentially
resembled the obligations undertaken towards a Teutonic chief by the
members of his "comitatus" or "gefolge," one of the institutions from
which feudalism directly sprang. Besides _homagium ligeum_, there was a
kind of homage which imposed no feudal duty; this was _homagium per
paragium_, such as the dukes of Normandy rendered to the kings of
France, and as the dukes of Normandy received from the dukes of
Brittany. The act of liege homage to a particular lord did not interfere
with the vassal's allegiance as a subject to his sovereign, or with his
duty to any other suzerain of whom he might hold lands.
The word is also used of the body of tenants attending a manorial court,
or of the court in a court baron (consisting of the tenants that do
homage and make inquiries and presentments, termed a _homage jury_).
HOMBERG, WILHELM (1652-1715), Dutch natural philosopher, was the son of
an officer of the Dutch East India Company, and was born at Batavia
(Java) on the 8th of January 1652. Coming to Europe with his family in
1670, he studied law at Jena and Leipzig, and in 1674 became an advocate
at Magdeburg. In that town he made the acquaintance of Otto von
Guericke, and under his influence determined to devote himself to
natural science. He, therefore, travelled in various parts of Europe for
study, and after graduating in medicine at Wittenberg, settled in Paris
in 1682. From 1685 to 1690 he practised as a physician at Rome; then
returning to Paris in 1691, he was elected a member of the Academy of
Sciences and appointed director of its chemical laboratory. Subsequently
he became teacher of physics and chemistry (1702), and private physician
(1705) to the duke of Orleans. His death occurred at Paris on the 24th
of September 1715. Homberg was not free from alchemistical tendencies,
but he made many solid contributions to chemical and physical knowledge,
recording observations on the preparation of Kunkel's phosphorus, on the
green colour produced in flames by copper, on the crystallization of
common salt, on the salts of plants, on the saturation of bases by
acids, on the freezing of water and its evaporation _in vacuo_, &c. Much
of his work was published in the _Recueil de l'Academie des Sciences_
from 1692 to 1714. The _Sal Sedativum Hombergi_ is boracic acid, which
he discovered in 1702, and "Homberg's phosphorus" is prepared by fusing
sal-ammoniac with quick lime.
HOMBURG-VOR-DER-HOHE, a town and watering-place of Germany, in the
Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, prettily situated at the south-east
foot of the Taunus Mountains, 12 m. N. of Frankfort-on-Main, with which
it is connected by rail. Pop. (1905) 13,740. Homburg consists of an old
and a new town, the latter, founded by the landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Frederick II. (d. 1708), being regular and well-built. Besides the
palatial edifices erected in connexion with the mineral water-cure,
there are churches of various denominations, Lutheran, Roman Catholic,
Russian-Greek and Anglican, schools and benevolent institutions. On a
neighbouring hill stands the palace of the former landgraves, built in
1680 and subsequently enlarged and improved. The White Tower, 183 ft. in
height, is said to date from Roman times, and certainly existed under
the lords of Eppstein, who held the district in the 12th century. The
palace is surrounded by extensive grounds, laid out in the manner of an
English park. The eight mineral springs which form the attraction of the
town to strangers belong to the class of saline acidulous chalybeates
and contain a considerable proportion of carbonate of lime. Their use is
beneficial for diseases of the stomach and intestines, and externally,
for diseases of the skin and rheumatism. The establishments connected
with the springs are arranged on a scale of great magnificence, and
include the Kurhaus (built 1841-1843), with a theatre, the Kaiser
Wilhelmsbad and the Kurhausbad. They lie grouped round a pretty park
which also furnishes the visitors with facilities for various
recreations, such as lawn tennis, croquet, polo and other games. The
industries of Homburg embrace iron founding and the manufacture of
leather and hats, but they are comparatively unimportant, the prosperity
of the town being almost entirely due to the annual influx of visitors,
which during the season from May to October inclusive averages 12,000.
In the beautiful neighbourhood lies the ancient Roman castle of
Saalburg, which can be reached by an electric tramway.
Homburg first came into repute as a watering-place in 1834, and owing to
its gaming-tables, which were set up soon after, it rapidly became one
of the favourite and most fashionable health-resorts of Europe. In 1849
the town was occupied by Austrian troops for the purpose of enforcing
the imperial decree against gambling establishments, but immediately on
their withdrawal the bank was again opened, and play continued unchecked
until 1872, when the Prussian government refused to renew the lease for
gambling purposes, which then expired. As the capital of the former
landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, the town shared the vicissitudes of that
state.
Homburg is also the name of a town in Bavaria. Pop. (1900) 4785. It has
a Roman Catholic and an Evangelical church, and manufactures of iron
goods. In the neighbourhood are the ruins of the castles of Karlsberg
and of Hohenburg. The family of the counts of Homburg became extinct in
the 15th century. The town came into the possession of Zweibrucken in
1755 and later into that of Bavaria.
See Supp, _Bad Homburg_ (7th ed., Homburg, 1903); Baumstark, _Bad
Homburg und seine Heilquellen_ (Wiesbaden, 1901); Schiek, _Homburg und
Umgebung_ (Homburg, 1896); Will, _Der Kurort Homburg, seine
Mineralquellen_ (Homburg, 1880); Hoeben, _Bad Homburg und sein
Heilapparat_ (Homburg, 1901); and N. E. Yorke-Davies, _Homburg and its
Waters_ (London, 1897).
HOME, EARLS OF. Alexander Home or Hume, 1st earl of Home (c. 1566-1619),
was the son of Alexander, 5th Lord Home (d. 1575), who fought against
Mary, queen of Scots, at Carberry Hill and at Langside, but was
afterwards one of her most stalwart supporters, being taken prisoner
when defending Edinburgh castle in her interests in 1573 and probably
dying in captivity. He belonged to an old and famous border family, an
early member of which, Sir Alexander Home, was killed at the battle of
Verneuil in 1424. This Sir Alexander was the father of Sir Alexander
Home (d. 1456), warden of the marches and the founder of the family
fortunes, whose son, another Sir Alexander (d. 1491), was created a lord
of parliament as Lord Home in 1473, being one of the band of nobles who
defeated the forces of King James III. at the battle of Sauchieburn in
1488. Other distinguished members of the family were: the first lord's
grandson and successor, Alexander, 2nd Lord Home (d. 1506), chamberlain
of Scotland; and the latter's son, Alexander, 3rd Lord Home (d. 1516), a
person of great importance during the reign of James IV., whom he served
as chamberlain. He fought at Flodden, but before the death of the king
he had led his men away to plunder. During the minority of the new king,
James V., he was engaged in quarrelling with the regent, John Stewart,
duke of Albany, and in intriguing with England. In September 1516 he was
seized, was charged with treachery and beheaded, his title and estates
being restored to his brother George in 1522. George, who was killed in
September 1547 during a skirmish just before the battle of Pinkie, was
the father of Alexander, the 5th lord.
Alexander Home became 6th Lord Home on his father's death in August
1575, and took part in many of the turbulent incidents which marked the
reign of James VI. He was warden of the east marches, and was often at
variance with the Hepburns, a rival border family whose head was the
earl of Bothwell; the feud between the Homes and the Hepburns was an old
one, and it was probably the main reason why Home's father, the 5th
lord, sided with the enemies of Mary during the period of her intimacy
with Bothwell. Home accompanied James to England in 1603 and was created
earl of Home in 1605; he died in April 1619.
His son James, the 2nd earl, died childless in 1633 when his titles
passed to a distant kinsman, Sir James Home of Coldingknows (d. 1666), a
descendant of the 1st Lord Home. This earl was in the Scottish ranks at
the battle of Preston and lost his estates under the Commonwealth, but
these were restored to him in 1661. His descendant, William, the 8th
earl (d. 1761) fought on the English side at Prestonpans, and from his
brother Alexander, the 9th earl (d. 1786), the present earl of Home is
descended. In 1875 Cospatrick Alexander, the 11th earl (1799-1881), was
created a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Douglas, and his son
Charles Alexander, the 12th earl (b. 1834), took the additional name of
Douglas. The principal strongholds of the Homes were Douglas castle in
Haddington and Home castle in Berwickshire.
See H. Drummond, _Histories of Noble British Families_ (1846).